–President Ali tells GOAL graduates
–$12.5B invested in online academy, Dr. Singh says

AS the latest batch of Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) scholars were conferred with their degrees, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali affirmed that the government has made this investment so as to ensure that Guyanese will have a brighter future.

The Head of State was, at the time, delivering the keynote address during GOAL’s third graduation ceremony, during which some 580 persons were conferred with Master’s Degrees from 10 universities.
“Your government has invested in you so that you will be successful. Your government has invested in you so that you will have a brighter future. Your government has invested in you so that you can have this proud moment today where you will all be earning master’s degrees in different fields, so that you can lift this country up and take this country forward,” President Ali declared.
He said that it was a proud moment for the nation, as it was not only a celebration of personal achievements but also the strengthening of Guyana’s future as the graduates represent a new addition to Guyana’s growing pool of qualified, capable, skilled men and women.

While the Head of State said that it served as a revolution in education, he reminded persons that it was not by accident, but rather it was as a result of leadership that believes in human development and investing in people.
Speaking directly to the graduates, President Ali said that Guyana is not the same country it was a decade ago, and is now one with a rapidly expanding economy and new emerging industries.
“But all that growth, all that opportunity, means nothing if we do not have the people ready to seize it. That is why GOAL matters, that is why you matter… because when we talk about development, we are not just talking about roads and bridges, we are talking about the engineers who can design that.
“When we talk about modern health care, we are talking about nurses and medical technicians who can deliver it. When we talk about digital transformations, we need the coders, the IT specialists, the data analysts,” he said.

Every sector in the country, Dr. Ali said, needs more qualified people, and, to this end, he told the graduates that they have stepped up to answer that call.
Guyana’s future rests in the human capital, the President said, adding that their skill, voice and passion are needed to build and lead the nation.
Dr Ali indicated that education is power, and is one of the greatest equalisers known to man, and as a result of the investment made by the Government of Guyana, that power is now more accessible than ever through free university education.

“When the noise settles on the outside, always remember on the inside that we invested in you because we believe in you,” President Ali affirmed.
Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance and the Public Service, Dr. Ashni Singh, disclosed that including the incoming 2025 cohort, the government has granted in excess of 39,000 scholarships through the GOAL platform.
This, he noted, represents almost twice the number of scholarships that they had committed to delivering when entering office in 2020.
Dr. Singh told the gathering that pursuant to President Ali’s instructions, the government has included in successive annual budgets, steadily increasing amounts of budgetary allocations and, in total, has allocated $12.5 billion to GOAL.

“That represents an investment of approximately 312,000 Guyana dollars per student,” he iterated.
This year, some 2,000 persons will be conferred with degrees and certificates at several levels and in various fields.
The Finance Minister told the graduates that they are living in an era of opportunity in Guyana, and as such, the task is now theirs to use the education and skills they have acquired to position themselves appropriately to benefit from these opportunities.