–$36.2B to continue expansion of schools
–$13.4B for University of Guyana to kick-start tuition-free experience for students

AS the Government of Guyana continues to place high priority on achieving universal education at all levels across the country, this year a further $175 billion was set aside in the 2025 National Budget for more advancements.

This was according to Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance and the Public Sector, Dr Ashni Singh, during his presentation of Budget 2025 to the National Assembly, on Friday.

“Recognising the importance of education both from the standpoint of individual empowerment through education, as well as the demand for a skilled workforce, our government places the highest level of importance on ensuring that every single Guyanese person is able to obtain a good quality education,” he said.

In this regard, he added that the government prioritises universal access, particularly universal primary and secondary education, but also access to tertiary and technical and vocational education.

In addition to access, improving the quality of educational outcomes also occupies the highest level of priority on the government’s agenda.
Upon entering office, Dr Singh indicated that the government had recognised that the education system faced a significant shortage of spaces for students across the country and as such, expansion and improvements were needed to teachers’ living quarters in the hinterland.

To address these issues, the government has rebuilt, expanded and improved educational facilities countrywide since 2020.
These interventions, he indicated, have created more than 8,000 additional spaces for children to access school spaces across the country.
While several schools were completed and commissioned in 2024, the senior minister indicated that a further sum of $36.2 billion is allocated in this year’s budget to advance works on schools across the country.

Some of the schools slated for completion by the end of 2025 include, Kopinang, Monkey Mountain, Nismes, Phillipai, Prospect, Tabatinga and Waramuri Secondary Schools, with several nursery and primary schools in various regions also set for completion.
“These schools when completed, will create over 20,000 additional spaces countrywide,” Dr Singh said.

Further, he added that over the past four years, the PPP/C government has applied several measures for children to be successful in schools.
Among these measures are the restoration of the Because We Care cash grant in 2021 which put some $27 billion over the period 2021 to 2024 into the hands of parents. The distribution of this grant will continue this year with some 205,305 children expected to benefit.

The National Breakfast Programme was launched in 2022 and last year some $4.9 billion was spent on this project. Dr Singh disclosed that a further $5.5 billion is allocated for the programme.
Moving to tertiary education, the minister indicated that in keeping with the PPP/C’s manifesto commitments regarding making university education more accessible and affordable, the government has begun phase one of the debt write-off process.

To date, he indicated, some $1.8 billion in loans has been written off for over 2,700 persons.
“In 2024, we also announced that UG will be tuition-free from January 2025. This will benefit in excess of 11,000 current students and all new students. This will relieve students of having to bear the cost of university education at UG, whether by way of cash or student loan,” he said.
As such, reflecting the abolition of tuition fees some $13.4 billion is allocated in this year’s budget to finance UG’s operations.

Turning to the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL), he stated that some 29,758 scholarships have been given out thus far since its commencement.

This year, a total of $4.4 billion is allocated in the budget for GOAL to offer some 9,000 more scholarships in 2025.

In relation to technical and vocational education and training, Dr Singh told the National Assembly that $2.6 billion was allocated to expand access to TVET programmes in 2025. Significant strides have been made over the past four years in this regard.