IN this rapidly changing world, governments and higher education institutions have an obligation to respond to social needs of the economy. Experience has shown that tertiary institutions which are committed to continuous improvement in the quality of their services, provide the best services to the community. The objective of creating educational opportunities for the under-represented and for those without access to a traditional higher educational institution gave birth to the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL). To such ends, it aims to provide services which would add to the higher education value chain. However, unlike what has been occurring in Guyana and elsewhere in the world in recent months, GOAL was established not as a reaction to the shutting down of the education system, but in fact, resulted from and reflected the transformative vision and leadership of the President and his government in fulfilling the promise of creating and expanding educational opportunities for all Guyanese across the length and breadth of Guyana by providing 20,000 online scholarships. Establishing a national online education institution is not only a bold initiative, but may also be the first such undertaking by a government, today. This initiative ushers a new era of higher education in Guyana, or what I consider to be a higher-education revolution that promises to transform the teaching-learning landscape from a classroom-based event to an online-flexible-distance mode of imparting knowledge.

However, GOAL is not set up as a tertiary institution to offer courses and programmes of study; it functions as an intermediary, broker or clearing house with student support services. While GOAL may evolve into a full-fledged academic institution in the future, its current mandate under the auspices of the Ministry of Education is to research educational institutions world-wide that provide internationally recognised and accredited programmes and courses relevant to both, the actual and perceived needs of the Guyanese economy; to negotiate price deals with these institutions; and to facilitate and connect Guyanese interested in pursuing the identified courses and programmes. It is also geared-up to offer advice and support on matters pertaining to student and academic affairs with the objective of guiding students on the path to successful completion of their courses/programmes. Put differently, the activities of GOAL will contribute to the education value chain in delivering an educational service to self-directed learners. It is estimated that about 20 per cent, or roughly 170,000 Guyanese live in hinterland regions and remote parts of Guyana. About 90,000 are Indigenous peoples. These indigenous peoples today, comprise nine distinct cultural groups, each predominating in particular geographical areas, particularly, Regions One, Two, Seven, Eight and Nine with small numbers in the other regions. Until the 1970s, travelling to even the least remote communities was slow and hazardous.

There are more than 250 indigenous villages, each with its own peculiarities and issues, generally located in remote dense rain-forested mountains, and hills, or in savannah regions, and serviced by many rivers. The social and economic conditions of the indigenous peoples are characterised by poverty, marginalisation and inequality. For example, while there are variances across and within regions world-wide, indigenous women are generally among the poorest of the poor and they are also more likely to be illiterate. These people have also been affected by traditional social protection systems due to various challenges, such as for example, increasing levels of poverty, weakening commitments to social obligations, increasing inequality, as well as climate change and technology. For most indigenous peoples, poverty does not only reflect lack of monetary resources, it involves access to land, culture, medicine, food, education and safety. Given these multiple negative circumstances, it should come as no surprise that Indigenous adolescents who aspire to study at tertiary institutions would like to live in Georgetown or in another country. In essence, young indigenous peoples see no end to their plight and therefore would prefer to abandon their villages, and to some extent, families, in search of a life that meets their aspirations and expectations.

It would not be too farfetched to envisage the same kind of thinking among other young Guyanese populations living in remote or riverine areas, such as for example, those along the banks of Bonasika Creek, Mahaica and Mahaicony Rivers; the upper reaches of the Pomeroon River, remote parts of Hogg Island, other nearby islands and other places that lack modern amenities.
Meanwhile, there have been shifts in populations from the Coastal Belt of Guyana to the hinterland regions. Large-scale logging and mining operations, whether through employment opportunities or the lure of gold, have encouraged mixed-population villages in and around these sites. This shift has increased the number of people in remote parts of Guyana who may lack opportunities for higher education. Mitigating the challenges facing Indigenous peoples and other ethnic groups that scratch their living in remote and riverine areas requires new approaches and concomitant investment in essential skills-development and capacity building, complemented by gap-bridging measures, such as for example, specialised business education and vocational programmes and include awareness-raising information dissemination. In light of the challenges posed by distance, remoteness and access to many villages in hinterland Guyana, and the villagers’ lack of, or inability to access to higher education, the online-distance education scholarships promise to redress some of the structural inequality and other barriers, and deliver equitable education opportunities to people in these remote villages, and indeed all across Guyana.

However, while the scholarship funds would remove the financial barrier to tertiary education, at least over the next five years, other barriers such as, the lack of Internet and related communication technologies, may still be cause for concern. As a way out, GOAL is gearing up to piggy-back on available or existing Internet and communication technologies platforms/infrastructures across the country. In the absence of such facilities, it plans to establish or collaborate, or both, with the private and public sector entities to put platforms/infrastructures in place to facilitate online learners. This is part of the wider objective of establishing study centres in each of the 10 administrative regions to facilitate and support online learners. These study centres, equipped with Internet and its related technologies, would allow learners to download their reading/study materials, and subsequently upload their assignments as required/dictated by the respective academic institutions. This first year, 2021, 4,500 Guyanese learners are expected to pursue vocational and academic courses and programmes across the spectrum from certificate to master’s degree levels. Some doctoral programmes are expected to be offered in subsequent years.

Yours sincerely,

Ronald Singh, LLM, MS (Barrister)
Deputy Director (Student Affairs),
Guyana Online Academy of Learning