— says Attorney-General, encourages East Coast Demerara residents to sign up for GOAL scholarships

THE scholarships offered through the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) will inevitably be of ultimate benefit to every Guyanese, Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, S.C., asserted, as he encouraged individuals to get on board the initiative.

The Attorney-General on Thursday, along with the Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton and the Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond met with Neighbourhood Democratic Councillors and other stakeholders along the East Coast Demerara corridor to enlist their support in promoting the GOAL initiative.

In addressing the gathering, Nandlall said “knowledge is power” and in highlighting the value of education, he asserted that “educating is empowering”.

He also reminded of the magnitude of the project which the Government of Guyana will be standing the bill for.

“Our foreparents made great sacrifices to educate past generations. Today, we are fortunate that our Government has assumed that mantle and is offering tertiary education as well as opportunities to qualify oneself to become the beneficiary of tertiary education, with the Government fully paying for the initiative,” he said.

The Attorney-General explained that the wide variety of programmes available for study through the GOAL initiative will be facilitated by a number of highly accredited institutions and can be conveniently undertaken at the comfort of the individual doing the programme, as they are online.

Nandlall stressed that the programme will be available for every Guyanese from every walk of life, as it is designed to benefit every single Guyanese, and he is adamant that it must not be contaminated with politics.

“That is why we are making every effort to ensure that every village is targetted in this initiative. So in the end, if I hear any allegation that some segment of our population was deliberately excluded, I must be able to confidently say that is a lie,” he said

Two meetings were convened on Thursday, one at the Better Hope/La Bonne Intention and another at the Mon Repos/La Reconnaissance Neighbourhood Democratic Councils. Meetings are scheduled to take place from May 17 to 22 in almost every village across the East Coast Demerara corridor.

The Attorney-General noted that the local leaders are imperative in promoting the programme through the work they execute, which allows them to venture to every crease and crevice within the villages, reaching a large number of residents.

A quantity of educational material pertaining to the GOAL initiative and application forms were lodged with the local leaders and stakeholders to be disseminated into the villages. Persons were also encouraged to utilise their social media platforms to promote the programme.