–over 7,500 more persons awarded GOAL scholarships
–in keeping with efforts to foster academic, technical skills to match the country’s exponential growth, Dr Singh says
Over 7,000 Guyanese will benefit from free, quality education through the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) programme.
On Saturday, the Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and the Public Service Dr. Ashni Singh announced that approval has been granted for 7,782 GOAL Scholarships and that the successful applicants will be informed by email over the course of next week.
This approval follows on the heels of the graduation, just two weeks ago, of the second batch of students numbering 1,712 who completed their studies in various disciplines including masters and degree programmes.
“The GOAL initiative is in keeping with the government’s commitment to improve the country’s educational and skills training capacity to match its aggressive economic diversification programme and continued rapid economic growth. In fact, the government has already surpassed its Manifesto promise of providing 20,000 online scholarships, with almost 21,500 scholarships provided by the end of 2023,” the press release outlined.
Further, it stated that under President Dr Irfaan Ali’s leadership, the government embarked on a novel and innovative programme to develop and take online learning to the next level.
The success of the GOAL programme indicates that it has been well received by the thousands of Guyanese who have benefitted and who continue to apply for scholarships to improve their educational capacity, the release said.
“What GOAL does is that it still gives them (Guyanese) the option to pursue higher technical and tertiary education were they so too desire using the online modality of delivery. It also offers a wider range of training options,” Dr.Singh recently explained, adding that the government is creating an environment where everyone can explore several opportunities that are being created so that the country can continue its rapid development.
Expounding further on the purpose of the GOAL scholarships, Dr. Singh had said that these are all elements of human capital development and improving the skills of the Guyanese workforce and population, to have a better skilled and qualified labour force as well as to have a more fulfilled population.
The government has been implementing several additional initiatives as it continues to invest in education throughout the country.
Among some of these initiatives is the launch of the “Guyana-Coursera Platform,” which was launched in March and will see approximately 50,000 persons benefitting from training in several areas across various ministries countrywide as part of the government’s expansive national training initiative.
“The administration has been using a multi-pronged approach in its education investment initiative including through the disbursement of cash and uniform grants to school children each year, with the 2024 grant to be disbursed shortly to students; cash grants to teachers each term to purchase classroom supplies; and the construction of new schools as well as the rehabilitation of several others across the country,” the release read.
Further, it highlighted another government initiative which was aimed at bettering the lives of Guyanese by paving the way for free tertiary education, which is the $11 billion student loan write off programme.
“Government recently commenced its Student Loan Write Off Programme to potentially benefit over 13,000 Guyanese who have $11 billion in student loan debt. The administration has also reiterated its commitment to improving education delivery with a total of $135.2 billion budgeted this year for the education sector,” the release noted.
