THE Essequibo Chamber of Commerce is calling for establishment of a University of Guyana (UG) Campus on the Essequibo Coast to serve Region Two and contiguous hinterland regions.

UG has at Charity a Distance Education Centre which offers certificate courses, but members of the business community believe that that centre needs to expand in both scope and output.

Chamber President Deleep Singh, pointing out that UG campuses already exist in Berbice and Demerara, thinks the time is ripe for one to be established in the resource-rich Essequibo region.

“Hundreds of young people from the Essequibo Coast are studying at the University of Guyana, and they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent. It is very costly on them, especially those from poor families,” he reasoned.

Singh contended that the coconut industry is gaining ground in the region, and will, in the next few years, rapidly expand, giving rise to a thriving value-added industry.

“We will need the expertise in the region to sustainably manage the industry,” he said, as he pointed out that heavy focus has to be placed on the sciences, information technology, engineering, and business education. These he identified as key areas to take the region forward.

President David Granger has been calling for greater attention to be placed on agro-processing, and Singh stressed that Essequibo, being an agriculture-based region, will need the expertise to develop in this regard.

“Here is where a branch of the university will be more than useful,” he told the Guyana Chronicle.

Primarily agriculture-based, Region Two is heavily dependent on rice, which remains a mainstay of its economy. Rice has, however, been on a downward spiral, and has experienced a significant drop in prices over the past few years.

RESEARCH
The local industry is at the mercy of the vagaries of international trade, but the Essequibo Chamber is confident that a university focused on research rather than rote delivery can place the region on more secure grounds.

“We need research on agriculture; degree programmes on marketing, mining, livestock, aquaculture and tourism and hospitality. These are the areas the region needs to place attention to if it is going to move forward and move away from the heavy dependence on rice. It should not be when rice is not doing well you throw your hands in the air and ask what to do. You will have well developed alternatives to keep business going,” Singh told this publication.

His contention is that the proposed UG campus can be a private/public sector partnership so as to satisfy the needs of the private sector and the demands for a well-trained Public Service.

Aside from the need for a university campus in the region, the businessman said, stronger attention needs to be paid to the education system, which in its current state is weak and not too responsive to the needs of the region.

“At the primary level, significant attention should be placed on stimulating the creative imagination of pupils, and it should systematically continue in primary schools. What we currently do is that we burden the children with too much books and study, yet the vast majority of them leave primary school unable to master basic concepts in literacy and numeracy. These are issues that should be fixed at the primary level, and should be given prime attention. And you cannot bombard the children with study, study, study and (a demand that) they should always top their class; the children need to be able to understand and apply what they are taught; and importantly, they are children and should enjoy recreation, and should not be consumed by only school work,” Singh contended.

The one-time president of the Parent/Teacher Association of the Charity Secondary School said it is also disturbing that a high number of students in secondary schools cannot read and write.
Naturally, this problem is due primarily to the fact that, every year, thousands of pupils who fail to grasp elementary concepts in English and Mathematics are flushed into the secondary school system with no robust programme of reform.

“This has to be fixed, but some students are not academically inclined, and we should not fail them. From early, we should introduce them to technical and vocational education, so that they can be equipped with a skill that will make them employable or enable them to do their own work. It will ease the frustration of the hundreds of students who drop out of school every year because they believe that the education system does not cater for them,” Singh contended.

Contending that the challenges facing the education system are many, Regional Chairman Devanand Ramdatt stressed that a collaborative effort is required to effectively address those challenges.

LONG OVERDUE
Ramdatt, 37, has reiterated that a university campus in the region is long overdue, and he said he would be happy if such an undertaking could be accomplished under his chairmanship.

“Since I assumed this post, less than a year ago, I have been meeting people from a diverse cross-section on the Essequibo Coast. With the information I have received, I am working to formulate a strategic plan for the region, and a university campus is among the list.

“There are many students who travel every year to study at the Turkeyen Campus. Their rent is costly, they have to get money for their upkeep, and they are away from their families. Altogether, individually, they spend about $60,000 every month in rent and other expenses.

“Multiply that number by 12 and then multiply the result by four and add all the students from the Essequibo Coast studying at the Turkeyen Campus. That is the amount of money that can be invested on the Essequibo Coast to help create jobs, improve services and bolster the economy of the region.

“So we are optimistic about the future of the region, and are hoping that when our plan is completed, it will be given due attention by the Government,” Ramdatt disclosed.

The Chairman was also quick to point out that the campus can begin by offering two-year diploma programmes and some degree programmes, and expand as demand increases.
Programmes offered, he said, can be in the areas of engineer, banking and finance, social work, agriculture, mining, business and public management, with strong focus on research.