Buxtonians encouraged to pursue GOAL scholarship programmes

Government’s vision to transform the nation’s academic standing could see many communities countrywide producing prominent scholars in the coming years.

The community of Buxton on the East Coast of Demerara will not be left out of these plans, as the administration vowed to provide major support to advance education in the area.

Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Public Affairs, Kwame McCoy, M.P, said the government stands ready to accept Buxtonians who are interested in furthering their education.

The minister made the disclosure during the government’s ministerial outreach to the community on Monday. 

Minister McCoy encouraged persons there to take maximum advantage of the free learning courses, through the Guyana Online Academy for Learning (GOAL) scholarship programme, which is currently benefitting some 6,000 Guyanese.

“We value education, we want our people to be more advanced educationally. Your education value means that you have a very good training place for the future in terms of your job, in terms of your business and therefore, we want you to do better,” Minister McCoy emphasised.

The scholarship programme is a manifesto promise made by the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) during its run on the campaign trail. The President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali – led administration said it will make available 20,000 scholarships for the nation’s people.

Minister McCoy stressed that the administration is willing to make further investments to surpass the 20,000 earmarked due to the overwhelming interest received to date.

He called on prospective scholars to provide their information at the conclusion of the meeting. Representatives from the ministry and the GOAL secretariat will conduct a follow-up exercise, lending support to the application process.

A sum of $1.3 billion was approved for GOAL in Budget 2022. GOAL is being prudently managed by the Ministries of Education and Public Service.

GOAL scholarships are geared at equipping citizens across the country, with the knowledge and qualification for self and economic development, through courses offered by internationally recognised higher learning institutions.

GOAL’s Director, Dr. Jacob Opadeyi told DPI that close to 5,000 people are qualified for the scholarship programme this year, out of the 6,000 who applied.

Government has made it possible for Guyanese to undergo distance learning in 187 programmes, offered through 30 universities. Last year, the government awarded 6,000 GOAL scholarships to Guyanese.