PRESIDENT Donald Ramotar attended a University of Guyana (UG) 50th anniversary caucus yesterday afternoon during which he called for an end to the politics that is trying to ruin the image of what is supposed to be the country’s premier tertiary institution.

Yesterday marked the beginning of weeks of planned activities to commemorate the Turkeyen Campus’s Golden Jubilee even as it continues to face resource inadequacies, demands by the UG Senior Staff Association for payment of overdue salaries and calls for the new Nigerian Vice-Chancellor Professor Jacob Opadeyi to take swift action.

Joining a group of panelists attached to the University from either its inception or over a significant number of years, President Ramotar spoke about the politics at the national level that is being reflected at UG and the numerous shortfalls the institution has been encountering over the years.

“Certain customs and habits must change. University professors must give their marks to students much earlier, we must have…more discipline in the system, more emphasis on developing the academic work,” President Ramotar said.
Founded three years before Guyana gained independence from the British, the University of Guyana, as Dr. Jagan had envisioned, was intended to be an “epicenter” for developing and disseminating values and goals in an emerging society.

The entire speech made by the late President in his famous 1963 speech at the institution’s inauguration was read by Minister of Education Priya Manickchand, while President Ramotar gave the interpretations.
“(Dr Jagan) wanted to build institutions that will not only produce… narrow specialists but he wanted to create professional and technical persons with a wider appreciation for society with a social conscience,” President Ramotar said.
Additionally with the need for serious analysis of the available resources in Guyana that are there to promote national development, President Ramtoar believes the University of Guyana should have been catering to those requirements.
“We have shortages of some technical skills. We know we should have more emphasis on science and technology but also there are some areas that we are badly short (like) good managers in our society… and this institution should give us this,” President Ramotar said.
As he addressed the gathering in the George Walcott Lecture Theatre (GWLT), that was rearranged to suit a panel discussion, President Ramotar was stern about the University being caught up in the political tit-for-tat.
UG has often been one of several named when Opposition politicians and their allies accuse the Government of deliberately trying to stifle certain key institutions.
However, President Ramotar, while acknowledging that differences are an inevitable fact of life in every mature democratic society, urged that the interest of the nation not be jeopardised in the process.
“Don’t let the different ideas paralyse us. Let’s try them one at a time. Life will tell us who is right and who is wrong and we must be bold enough to make changes when we have made mistakes,” President Ramotar said.
The caucus commenced with high commendations to the University over the 50 years, especially the number of distinguished Guyanese and Caribbean statesmen who were trained there. Among them is the country’s President who graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics.
Professor Opadeyi suggested that the 50th Anniversary Committee make a special effort to record and exhibit the names of persons who graduated from the institution and have today made great accomplishments.

FOUNDER OF UG

He alluded to the very important role played by Dr. Cheddi Jagan, who was one of the founding members of the PPP, and founder of UG.
The Head of State spoke about Dr. Jagan’s role in preparing Guyana to be an independent state and his examination of what human resources were available for the construction of the new society that he envisaged.
According to him, correspondence written by Dr. Jagan date back as far as September 1961 with his search around the world to find persons to assist in the process of establishing the university.
Ramotar stated that Dr. Jagan wanted to build an institution that would not only produce specialists, but rather professional and technical persons with a wider appreciation for society and with a social conscience.
He added that Dr. Jagan also wanted persons who would see the development of the country as much more important than even their own personal development.
President Ramotar said that the UG founder had a total view of where he wanted Guyana to go and he was building the institutions that would be necessary to take the country there.

EQUAL ACCESS

And he acknowledged that his government has a lot of work to do, which they have already started at the level of the central government, including laying the basis for equal access to education for all Guyanese.
He pointed out that Guyana has already achieved Universal Primary Education and is not far away from having Universal Secondary Education, which is a part of the dream to have persons even in the remotest areas in Guyana access equal educational opportunities and equal access to job opportunities.
The Head of State further stated that technology must  be used to create virtual classrooms so that persons in the remotest part of the country can have access to education online.
He said that they need to dream big to realise many of the goals that generations have set, and persons need to take a hard look at the requirements for national development in Guyana and the UG should be tuned into that.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Ramotar stressed that more emphasis must be placed on science and technology, and efforts have to be made to address the shortage of some technical skills and other areas in which they are lacking, such as the managerial area.
He wished the UG administration all the best and also advised students not to take their studies for granted but to do their best and study hard to ensure that they become the best in their respective area of  studies.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand in her address to the audience gathered for the occasion read a speech which was written by then Premier Dr. Jagan on the 1st October, 1963 for the inauguration of the University of Guyana.
In that speech, Dr. Jagan spoke about the importance of the establishment of the university, and the trying times in which this was done.
He also spoke about the establishment of the institution being a symbol of the government’s determination to satisfy the earnest aspiration of the Guyanese people.
Dr. Jagan in his speech wrote about educational development in Guyana, including teacher training and the consolidation and improvement of the system to meet the needs of the Guyanese people.
Manickchand noted that Dr. Jagan was a visionary and laid out a plan and a commitment to this university, and the party which he formed is now in government.
She reaffirmed the government’s commitment to making the university what it was first envisioned to be, and asked all stakeholders to reflect on the people who brought the university to where it is, to honour them by making sure they do what they can to transform Guyana so that these timeless principles laid out in the first speech by Dr. Jagan can be realised.

PRODUCING A PRESIDENT
University of Guyana Vice Chancellor, Professor Jacob Opadeyi, in his brief remarks on the occasion, highlighted that very few national universities can say that they have produced a President.
According to him, the university will have a garden with names of persons who have accomplished so much, and are UG graduates, and President Ramotar’s name will be in that garden.
Opadeyi said that starting a university is not an easy endeavour, and when they reflect over the 50 years it can be concluded that it was a very fruitful exercise.
Also present at the event were Mexican Ambassador to Guyana, Francisco Olguin and PPP Chief Whip and Presidential Adviser on Governance, Gail Teixeira and members of staff and students of the university.