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History

Cheddi Jagan, then Premier of British Guiana, considered that the University of the West Indies, to which his government had contributed since 1948, was not meeting the demand of his countrymen for higher education. On 4 January 1962, Jagan wrote to Harold Drayton, then in Ghana, to ask him to seek the advice of W.E.B. Du Bois on starting a new university.

Drayton returned to British Guiana in December 1962, and it was on his advice that Jagan wrote to socialist scholars in the United Kingdom and United States, including Joan Robinson at the University of Cambridge, Paul Baran at Stanford University, and Lancelot Hogben at Birmingham to involve them in the recruitment of staff.[3]

The University opened on the grounds of Queen's College in late 1963. Its first chancellor was Edgar Mortimer Duke and its first Principal and Vice-Chancellor was the British biologist and mathematician Lancelot Hogben.

Excerpt from a speech from Dr. Harold Drayton in 2009.

 β€œMuch as I enjoy all the many flattering tributes you always shower me with, I want to confirm tonight what I have always acknowledged: despite the hard work of all those of us who were involved with the University project, it was Cheddi Jagan who was the unfaltering political sponsor of UG. And now that I am busily engaged in looking in detail, especially at the records of 1962, I can tonight sharpen that assessment. Had it not been for Cheddi's steadfastness, in firmly resisting those who as late as December 1962 made their last attempt to reverse the decision to establish an autonomous Guyanese institution for Higher Education and Research, UG would almost certainly never have come into being. That is our History."

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Gilbakka posted:

Indeed, Bibi, the University of Guyana was the brainchild of Dr Cheddi Jagan. As such, it boggles the mind how the Jagdeo-Ramotar administrations allowed UG to deteriorate. That should never have happened under any PPP government.

Did they allow it to deteriorate?  I thought they expanded it by adding on additional schools to the campus.  Tell me, I am not sure.

Bibi Haniffa
Bibi Haniffa posted:
Gilbakka posted:

Indeed, Bibi, the University of Guyana was the brainchild of Dr Cheddi Jagan. As such, it boggles the mind how the Jagdeo-Ramotar administrations allowed UG to deteriorate. That should never have happened under any PPP government.

Did they allow it to deteriorate?  I thought they expanded it by adding on additional schools to the campus.  Tell me, I am not sure.

Indeed Bibi, you lie about a lot of things and seems very ignorant too.

Mitwah
Mitwah posted:
Bibi Haniffa posted:
Gilbakka posted:

Indeed, Bibi, the University of Guyana was the brainchild of Dr Cheddi Jagan. As such, it boggles the mind how the Jagdeo-Ramotar administrations allowed UG to deteriorate. That should never have happened under any PPP government.

Did they allow it to deteriorate?  I thought they expanded it by adding on additional schools to the campus.  Tell me, I am not sure.

Indeed Bibi, you lie about a lot of things and seems very ignorant too.

That is why I need to hire an advisor.  What is your fee???

Bibi Haniffa
Bibi Haniffa posted:
Gilbakka posted:

Indeed, Bibi, the University of Guyana was the brainchild of Dr Cheddi Jagan. As such, it boggles the mind how the Jagdeo-Ramotar administrations allowed UG to deteriorate. That should never have happened under any PPP government.

Did they allow it to deteriorate?  I thought they expanded it by adding on additional schools to the campus.  Tell me, I am not sure.

That's right; the PPP government added more departments and Edward Beharry & Sons donated a dormitory. However, I have read reports of leaking roofs, under-equipped labs, falling windows, broken furniture, under-stocked library, etc. Not to mention UG's failure to attract top-grade lecturers because of low salary.

FM

Issues affecting UG students will be addressed before next semester – President

April 16, 2016 Source

Guyana’s Student Society (UGSS), after the student body picketed the Ministry of the Presidency last week, demanding an audience with the Head of State.

After more than a week of waiting, President Granger finally met with representatives of the student body, where he pledged to continue to address ongoing concerns.

President David Granger with some of the UGSS members after the meeting

President David Granger with some of the UGSS members after the meeting

β€œBy the time the next academic year starts, most of these problems will be dealt with. Of course, not completely, but we would like to have some of these problems rectified. So we will try to rectify these before next semester and when the Minister of Finance is back in the country, I would like to engage him and it will be in the presence of the Vice Chancellor and the Chancellor, if he is still here, and the Minister of Education. This is a grave situation and I would never try to sweep this under the carpet,” President Granger told the students.

Among the issues raised were the lack of lecturers, lack of furniture in the classrooms, the presence of animals on campus, lack of recreational facilities, absence of practical assessments, functioning and equipped laboratories for first and second-year students, what are considered unhelpful policies of the University and the perception of lack of respect and regard for the welfare of students by the University’s administration.

President Granger said the meeting was β€œsobering”, adding that while he was aware and had been disturbed about the diminishing conditions at the University for several years, he had never expected that it would reach to such low levels. β€œWhat you have described here, which I do not doubt… is very grim. The standards of sanitation and even the infrastructure are unacceptably low,” he told the students.

Meanwhile, UGSS President Joshua Griffith, in an invited comment, said the discussion with the Head of State was frank and open and focused mainly on the issues that have been affecting students at the campus. He noted that the commitment given by the President was heartening.

Django

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