–university boasts more enrollments from persons in the diaspora, over 200 regional students

By Faith Greene
VICE CHANCELLOR of the University of Guyana, Professor Paloma Mohamed has said that the university, over the past three years, has undergone drastic fundamental changes, most of which relate to the fact that many programmes are now being delivered online.

The radical changes, according to the Vice Chancellor, are not yet expressed in the public domain, but entails the university adopting both online and face to face methods of education delivery.

She added that these changes have allowed the university to expand the scope and size of their offerings, not just locally, but also to international markets as well.

Dr. Mohamed, in her address at the launch of a two-day job fair, related that one of the benefits of going online is the number of people in the diaspora who are now attending university.

She said: “(So) we have, I would say about four to five per cent of our students now within those three years who are children of people within the diaspora, as well as people who live in the diaspora. And we only discovered this is an unintended effect of course, of going online.

“We discovered this when we started to say we’re coming back face-to-face and then this big petition went out and we couldn’t come back face-to-face.”

The Vice Chancellor related that this allowed the university to recognise how many students in the online class rooms live abroad or in the diaspora.

Aside from tapping into the Guyanese diaspora, Registrar of UG, Dr. Nigel Gravesande, said the university has also been attracting students from Guyana’s neighbours and those within the Caribbean who are seeking opportunities here.

He said: “And we are proud, that we now have close to 200 regional students pursuing courses and programmes. Leading to bachelor’s and master degrees, right here within the walls of this university.”

Persons will have the opportunity to explore more of what the university has to offer during the ongoing open day and job fair at the Turkeyen Campus.