VP Jagdeo says both UG, GOAL necessary for an educated population

Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo recently emphasized the importance of investing in both the University of Guyana (UG) and the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) scholarship program to achieve a well-educated population.

During an engagement with reporters last Thursday, the former president emphasized that GOAL and UG cannot be compared as similar institutions, since GOAL offers courses provided by international institutions whereas UG only provides educational services.

However, he expressed that UG must be able to consolidate its programmes to offer high-quality education that must be recognised worldwide. Dr Jagdeo added that the government is utilising taxpayers’ money to fund the institution and the value for money and strong leadership must be ensured at the local institution.

“They need to have good quality degrees, first degrees particularly around a core number of areas and quality is important … I believe we need UG but we need the other programmes,” the vice president emphasised.

Dr Jagdeo also highlighted the importance of GOAL, explaining that negotiations are facilitated with institutions from around the world based on price and quality before they can offer education services.

“These institutions have to through the quality and the review of the curriculum to the technical staff of GOAL … they have to have a certain standard before you can be chosen to offer education services,” he said.

In 2021, the GOAL programme was launched by the PPP/C Administration to deliver on its commitment to providing 20,000 online scholarships within their first tenure in government.

To date, over 21,000 Guyanese have received scholarships through the GOAL programme in various fields, filling human resource gaps in the economy and according to the vice president, around 35,000 online scholarships will be awarded by 2025, surpassing the initial target.

Other training programmes are also being offered including at the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) and other technical institutions across the country.