IN excess of 420 persons have been granted scholarships to study at various local institutions, including the University of Guyana and the Art Williams and Harry Wendt Aeronautical Engineering School.
The Ministry of Public Service hosted an orientation ceremony for those persons as they prepare for their individual academic journeys.

Minister of Public Service, Sonia Parag, in her address at the ceremony, said that education is not only the key to success, but it is also the key to humanity.
According to her, even though she is not a scholarship awardee, she knows the value of education.

She added that her parents were both public servants who came from very humble backgrounds, but according to her, they did not allow their limited means to stifle their children’s chance of acquiring a solid education.
“I am not a scholarship awardee; I wish I was, but I do know the value of an education. My parents were public servants, and they came from very poor and humble backgrounds. However, I grew up knowing and being told by my parents, who were of limited means like so many of you here, but you still make the sacrifices and the effort to have your children get a better life than you did. My father always said to me, No matter whatever you do in your life, take an education…” Minister Parag related.

The Public Service Minister said that the Government of Guyana and her ministry wish to accept all the young applicants at once, but it is simply not possible at this time.
However, Minister Parag encouraged young people to capitalise on the opportunities that are given to them.
She said that although thousands of people have applied, that does not guarantee that 1,000 will be accepted.

“I wish we could accomplish that, but we are unable to. As a scholarship is provided at the option of the recipient, let me start by congratulating you on your achievement. Thirdly, the fields for which we have posted scholarship opportunities have been chosen by the ministry on the basis of an informal evaluation that is carried out with the various public service businesses,” the minister said, adding: “Second, it is dependent on many conditions. This is to determine which domains they wish to enhance their human resource capabilities in.”

Parag went on to say: “There is a difference between national scholarships and the Ministry of Public Services scholarships…in our manifesto, there is one initiative of awarding ordinary Guyanese the opportunity to have a scholarship under the [GOAL] online scholarship initiative. The reason we brought that out was to bridge the gap not only with the rural and urban areas but also the hinterland areas.”

She went on to say that one of the key motivations for the government’s investment in the scholarship initiative was its desire to promote equality, and provide the programmes in an equitable manner.
The minister said: “The GOAL scholarship is a unit that comes under the Ministry of Education but is selected and funded by the Ministry of Public Service.”

Minister Parag encouraged the recipients to make full use of the opportunity that they were given, noting: “We want you to be able to give back to your country, and there is a certain type of pride that you can take in serving your country… Guyana is transforming; we can build all the roads that we can and all the infrastructure, but if we don’t have our people moving along with that, it doesn’t make sense. We are investing in you so that you can come back and shine in this country.”

In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, one of the recipients, Marissa Sowbane, from Region Two on the Essequibo Coast, expressed how delighted she was to be one of the recipients of the scholarship.

“I am extremely happy, hearing that I was one of the chosen candidates I was ecstatic, and I want to thank the Government of Guyana for this opportunity to further my studies. I remembered the exact moment when I saw the email, I couldn’t believe it. From that moment it was just an upward trajectory for me. This is a great initiative especially for persons who cannot afford to pursue tertiary education; it’s good to have that opportunity through scholarship to furthering your education,” she said.