PRESS RELEASE: Discontinuation of partnership between ISDC and the University of Staffordshire

March 17, 2025

The Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) remains committed to expanding access to online education for Guyanese citizens. Since its establishment, GOAL has transformed lives through academic and professional training, facilitated by strategic partnerships with over 20 local, regional, and international institutions.

GOAL’s success is underpinned by the unwavering support of its partners, which include:

Action Invest, Guyana
ACCA-affiliated institutions, Guyana
Atlantic Technological University (ATU), Ireland
Amity University, UAE
International Skill Development Corporation (ISDC), UK
Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), India
JAIN “Deemed to be” University (JAIN), India
New Guyana School, Guyana
Nations Inc., Guyana
QualiTest Inc., Guyana
Robert Gordon University, Scotland
Texila American University, Guyana
The University of the West Indies, Barbados
Universidad Católica de Murcia – Structuralia, Spain
University of the Caribbean, Dominican Republic
University of the Southern Caribbean, Trinidad
University of Petroleum & Energy Studies, India
UNICAF in partnership with the University of East London, UK
UNICAF in partnership with Liverpool John Moores University, UK
UNICAF in partnership with the University of Suffolk, UK
UNICAF University, Zambia
UNICAF University, Malawi

These partnerships provide Guyanese students with opportunities to pursue academic programmes in diverse fields, including business, technology, healthcare, and engineering. Additionally, GOAL collaborates with third-party partners to enhance the delivery of its programmes. These partners are: International Skill Development Corporation (ISDC), UK; Structuralia, Spain; UNICAF, Cyprus and Coursera, USA.

Between 2021 and 2024, GOAL awarded a total of 29,758 scholarships. The number of scholarships granted has increased steadily each year, reflecting a 32.4% growth from 6,280 in 2021 to 8,316 in 2024. The most significant annual increase occurred between 2021 and 2022, at 18%.

At a meeting on November 30, 2023, a GOAL representative met with the leadership of the University of Staffordshire (UoS) and ISDC at UoS’s London Campus to discuss collaboration in delivering undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes to Guyanese students via the SQA progression pathway. The meeting was productive, resulting in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ISDC and GOAL. Under this agreement, GOAL scholars would pursue their degrees through the ISDC progression pathway, leading to UoS qualifications. Subsequently, UoS officials issued a letter to GOAL confirming this arrangement, while ISDC’s Executive Director provided a similar confirmation in writing.

Since 2022, GOAL has collaborated with ISDC in delivering the Get Ready for Opportunities to Work (GROW) initiative, which has benefited over 4,000 Guyanese by enabling access to tertiary education. Many of these students are now nearing completion of their bachelor’s degrees at internationally accredited universities. Recognising the potential of a UK degree pathway with tuition fee discounts based on enrolment volumes, GOAL pursued this opportunity to increase the number of scholarships available to deserving citizens.

The ISDC pathways are well-established in the UK and have facilitated access to higher education for students worldwide. ISDC is accredited by the Scottish Qualifications Authority and currently collaborates with approximately 20 UK universities.

As previously noted, ISDC is one of GOAL’s third-party partners. Similarly, UNICAF provides access to three UK universities as well as two universities based in Africa, while Structuralia, another third-party provider, collaborates with the Organisation of American States to offer master’s degree qualifications from European universities. These partnerships have been instrumental in delivering internationally accredited university education at scale, with significant tuition fee reductions.

Following the finalisation of GOAL’s partnership with ISDC, approximately 1,400 Guyanese were awarded scholarships under the UoS/ISDC SQA progression pathway in August 2024. However, it was not until late January 2025 that GOAL was made aware of challenges affecting the delivery of academic programmes under this arrangement. Multiple efforts were undertaken to address these issues, including three virtual meetings with affected students. Initially, the difficulties pertained to a mismatch in course offerings, access to the Learning Management System (LMS), and inaccuracies in course matrices. However, the situation escalated into a dispute between UoS and ISDC over the implementation of their partnership. At no point prior to this had either institution formally notified GOAL of the breakdown in their collaboration or its implications for our scholars.

Attempts to engage directly with UoS leadership were unsuccessful. It is our understanding that legal representatives of both parties are currently negotiating a resolution. Since this dispute came to light, GOAL has provided affected scholars with opportunities to transfer to other partnering universities. Additionally, ISDC is actively engaging five UK universities—Arden University, Queen Margaret University, University of the West of Scotland, Wrexham University, and Cardiff Metropolitan University—that are likely to accept our awardees and recognise the credits they have earned under the disrupted partnership.

GOAL sincerely apologises to its awardees for the inconvenience and frustration caused by this situation. We assure them that every effort is being made to safeguard their academic progress. Affected scholars will be contacted before the end of the week with details of available transfer options within our network of partner universities.