THIS past week the President announced phased implementation of free university education. This would represent another campaign promise kept. I noticed some skepticism expressed by the opposition.
Generally speaking, these reservations show a lack of knowledge of the actual framing in the manifesto. On Page 34 of “OUR PLAN FOR PROSPERITY,” two separate items were listed and were always intended to be two distinct, but mutually dependent rollouts.

The exact rendering states: 1. “Provide free education at the University of Guyana within five years.” 2. “Provide a pathway for debt write-off for students with outstanding student loans.”

As it seems, item number one will come later and is not part of this initial rollout. For now, I will keep the focus on the pathway for debt write-offs. The detailed measures of this plan have not yet been released. The majority of the plan will most likely be elucidated along with the 2024 budget, since there will be a budgetary impact, which will need to be statutorised via the appropriations bill.

That said, I wish to advocate for debt write-off to be tied to post-graduation service to the country. Debt write-off should not be automatic, but via an application process. My recommended eligibility formula would be, the number of years of study under loan plus one, years of work in Guyana.

That is to say, a person studying a one-year course will be required to work in Guyana for two years. A two-year diploma will require three years of work, etc… Wherever you work in Guyana should not matter.

Be it self-employment, private-sector or public-sector employment. Exception should be granted to athletes who live and train overseas, providing they have represented the country over the same period that is required in other instances outlined above. Those who choose to be homemakers after graduation should also be eligible; it is a legitimate form of work.

There is a category of persons who should wait on future rollout or be denied debt forgiveness altogether. Those Guyanese who live permanently overseas and come back to procure a student loan to finance their studies, then leave right after graduation.

The primary purpose of free education is to improve the local pool of skills to aid development and must, therefore, carry built-in incentives to stem the brain drain. Therefore, residency-eligibility requirements should be strictly enforced.

During the debt-cancellation application process, the applicant must supply proof that they meet the eligibility requirements. In this instance, a non-exhaustive list can include NIS contribution records, tax records, immigration and travel records. This “pathway” is not unreasonable even in the slightest.

The other campaign promise for “free education at the University of Guyana” should carry a pre-study residency requirement. To be eligible for free tuition at UG, a citizen should have lived continuously in Guyana for three to five years, depending on the study programme, immediately prior to the date of application.

There is a third campaign promise found on the said page 34 that I wish to highlight. “Update a manpower survey and undertake curricula reform accordingly.” This, providing it is done right, is a major contributing pillar that will impact all aspects of national development.

Tying a manpower survey to education is merely a first but necessary step. This will ensure free education is targeted towards the manpower requirements of the country and the entire venture is not just a stab in the dark. Certainly, the lone University of Guyana will not be able to offer all possible courses necessary for our development. This means that we will have to look outside of UG to supplement our education needs.

After these aforementioned measures are operating satisfactorily, the government should, in the next manifesto cycle, consider issuing study vouchers for eligible citizens to study locally and internationally accredited university programmes outside UG. This may require two things: one, a manpower ranking, so that vouchers are issued only for non-UG programmes satisfying a certain ranking.\

Two, expand strategic university cooperation agreements where curriculum is shared between UG and other universities around the world. In this way, education and development will go hand in hand. This will reduce the current mismatch and randomness that exist between education and national manpower requirements.

A rapidly expanding oil-producing economy will need its education and manpower planning cycles to be well oiled and targeted, otherwise many possible gains may be missed altogether and, in some cases, may even contribute to developmental retardation. As it stands, the government is on track with its election promise to deliver strategic, free public university education.