A ‘first choice’ and more competitive UG

– ¾new Vice-Chancellor aspires to raise standard of the institution

DPI, Guyana, Thursday, June 11, 2020

“One of UG’s aspirational goals is to make the institution the first choice for the best students […] and we want it to be more competitive- internationally, not only for our local students but other students who come here,” said Vice-Chancellor (VC) Professor Paloma Mohamed-Martin.

The newly freshly appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana was at the time speaking to DPI during an interview.

As UG gears up to release its 20-year development blueprint  the Vice-Chancellor said people should not negate the astronomical benefits of a tertiary-level education.

“I would say a university education is 40 per cent where you went and 60 per cent who you are […] You can go to any university in the world and you are a top-class brain and innovator,” the Professor Mohamed-Martin stated.

Describing the lecturers as guides, the Vice-Chancellor added that the onus is on students to make themselves into success stories by taking advantage of the opportunities presented at the university.

She held that “it is really about your inner hunger and what you want to do […] A university education does make you, [sic] distinguish you from everybody else.”

As the University of Guyana prepares to head into a new direction under her stewardship, Professor Mohamed-Martin posited that UG will emerge as an institution that solves the problem within the society, particularly with a redesign of the curriculum.

The Vice-Chancellor disclosed among the plans that are expected to soon come on stream are infrastructural upgrades to the university’s library, buildings within the Faculty of Natural Sciences, and the sports complex. Some of these are funded by the Government, and others by donors.

Professor Paloma Mohamed-Martin was appointed to Vice-Chancellor on Tuesday by Chancellor Edward Green.