$4B allocated for GOAL scholarship in 2024 budget

A total of $4 billion was on Monday allocated in the 2024 budget for the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) scholarship programme.

The amount of money to be expended on the programme was announced by Senior Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh during his presentation at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

“Mr Speaker in 2024 an amount of $4 billion is allocated for GOAL to support 6,000 new students and 3,967 continuing students,” the senior minister announced.

Additionally, the minister further revealed the government will introduce 160 new programmes in general and vocational Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees during the new year.

The GOAL scholarship has brought university-level education to persons throughout the length and breadth of Guyana.

In 2023, 7752 scholarships were granted, bringing the total since the programme was started to 21,442, exceeding the PPP\C’s manifesto promises of delivering 20,000 scholarships.

Within the last three years, 3431 persons graduated from GOAL.

These applicants were fortunate enough to study from an online platform at prestigious universities around the world while being in the comfort of their homes.

The implementation of the GOAL scholarship programme is to ensure that a vast majority of Guyana’s population obtains a certificate, diploma or degree so that they can better themselves.