FROM scrapping the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant to taxing education and introducing high facility fees at the University of Guyana between 2015 and 2020, the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is now promising a stipend of $50,000 monthly to eligible students.

On the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR)’s website, the party is promising to “pay each eligible student a $50,000 per month stipend to help cover the cost of travel, meals, learning material, etc.”
Further, even though the current People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government has made the University of Guyana (UG) free, the opposition is promising the same.
These promises by the opposition within the education sector have led many to question whether this is the party’s election-time rebranding.

The APNU+AFC, during their 2015 election campaign, pledged to eliminate university fees, yet, upon achieving power, they reneged on this promise.
Under the APNU+AFC coalition’s reign, there was not only a blatant disregard for their promise of free university tuition, but also an active escalation in education-related costs.

They increased UG fees and other education-related expenses. Their imposition of VAT on education, data, and Internet services was seen by many as a direct assault on the academic welfare of students.
The coalition’s decision to revoke the “Because We Care” cash grant, a vital support for schoolchildren, was also met with mass criticism.

Starting with the 2025/26 academic year, tuition at UG is officially free, and applications are now open for all; this is a direct result of the PPP/C’s investment and fulfillment of its campaign promise.
The change, which took effect on January 1, 2025, means no tuition fees for new or continuing students pursuing Diplomas, Bachelor degrees, Master degrees, or PhDs across UG’s campuses and Online platforms.

President Dr. Irfaan Ali, during a parliamentary address in October 2024, announced that beginning in the January 2025 semester, tuition fees at UG will be fully abolished.
To facilitate the rollout of free tertiary education, UG received a $13.1 billion allocation in the 2025 National Budget.

Additionally, through the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL), the government has awarded scholarships to over 39,000 Guyanese, thus enabling them to pursue Online studies at various local and international universities.

As part of its initiative to provide free tertiary education, the government had also written off approximately $203.7M in student loans for 346 UG graduates as of mid-2024. The government has also removed tuition fees from all government technical institutions.