THE Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, in collaboration with Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL), launched the Goal Sports Scholarship programme on Friday, at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre.

The collaboration occurred under the theme ‘Strengthening sports in Guyana through education.’

The programme is the first for Guyana; it will offer a variety of certificates and master’s courses intended to drive sports growth in scope and substance.

It sees Guyanese in the sports sector offered certificates in nutrition and dietetics, bodybuilding, and sport facilities management, among others.

Advanced students can read for a range of master’s degrees, including sports journalism, athletics coaching, coaching and sports psychology, and sports marketing.

Minister of Public Service, government efficiency and implementation, Zulfikar Ally, says this is crucial because there is a life after sports.

“At this junction of our country at this moment in time, we have a president that is so passionate about sports that he is passionate about seeing that every Guyanese, all Guyanese, succeed in whatever field that they choose to be in. He has made education free from nursery to tertiary, and he has now agreed that our sportsmen and women should also be part of building their capacity, building their strengths.”

Minister Charles Ramson Jr. told those gathered that because of his leadership in the sector, he was in a good position to understand the needs and strengths of the athletes and officials.

He highlighted the need for the country to continue investing in our sporting ecosystem to keep abreast with the rest of the world.

“When Steven and I discussed this with the president, it wasn’t a hard sell, and that is what I wanted everybody to know. It is not like we needed to convince President Ali about this, and over the last five years, when you had so much development in sports, it wasn’t because I had to go and say to President Ali, “I need this,” and press him, “No, everything I approach for, we get.”

Minister Steven Jacobs says the array of courses offered was deliberate in helping to provide Guyanese with the skills to further propel sports locally.

“This says to every citizen of this country that sports and education must complement each other. It is clear: while we build out the facilities, we want to make sure that all of our athletes, every single individual that represents this country, represent us well not only on the field or the court but off of the field. You must see a thorough representation of Guyana, and the only way that can happen is if we continue to make sure that we provide the necessary educational programmes for them to develop.”

Deputy Director of GOAL, Swathi Prabhu Baldi, said it is much more than a scholarship programme.

“It is about believing in our young people and investing in their talent. We oftentimes speak about sports being a pathway to excellence; we celebrate when our athletes take us to the international stage, but it is much more than that. There is a person behind that with dreams, with ambition, with commitment, and doing a lot more than in the sporting field, and this is exactly where the education comes into the picture. This is where the Guyana Online Academy of Learning comes into the picture.”

Director of Sports, Steve Ninvalle, lauded 2026 as the best year to be in the sporting fraternity’

“For some time, they have been a sense of academic affixation that was hovering over sports. This programme will tend to remove that, and I think it is sound; it has been well thought out, and it shows just exactly what we are doing from the Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sports and, by extension, the government of Guyana as it relates to sport.”

Also giving remarks, Chief Planning Officer at the Ministry of Education, Mischka White-Griffith, dismissed the notion that students have to choose between education and sports.

“We are here to retire that myth and, more importantly, to share with our parents that when we are thinking about sports, we are not merely thinking about what’s on the field; it’s about what we do before we get to the field that will really distinguish us not only between individuals alone but as a country.”

The event also heard remarks from other officials from the National Sports Commission.

The application process opened on September 4th and closes on September 18th.