Public Service Ministry announces more scholarship opportunities

Public Service Minister Sonia Parag

The Guyana Government has, through the Public Service Ministry, announced more opportunities for Guyanese to acquire scholarships.

The Russian Federation has now collaborated with Government to offer a limited number of scholarships at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels in Russia.

Fields of study at the undergraduate level include hydrometry, agro-chemistry and agro-soil science, applied mathematics and computer science, mechanical engineering, oil and gas engineering, and biotechnology. At the postgraduate level, there are openings for pharmacy, statistics, hydrometeorology and paediatrics.

Interested persons are required to apply by February 23, and all details can be accessed through the Public Service Ministry’s website.

In recent time, scholarships were opened for the Robert Gordon University, Republic of Turkey; Organisation of Islamic Cooperation of Brunei; Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship Programme; and the Chinese Scholarship Council, among others. These have since been closed.

In its manifesto, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic has promised 20,000 scholarships in its first term in office. This year, $1.3 billion was allocated in the Budget to continue programmes under the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL).

In the past year, 6000 Guyanese have been enrolled at reputable universities in various parts of the world, including in India, Germany and the wider Caribbean region, earning them tertiary qualifications ranging from certificates to PhD level. With this year’s allocation, another 4500 persons would be able to secure higher education.

In November 2021, Guyanese students were accepted to study in India through GOAL. Out of the 6225 online scholarship awardees, 2689 would study at the Jain “Deemed To Be” University and 1672 at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). In addition, Sherlock Institute of India has offered 215 online scholarships.

It has been reported that 73.5 per cent of the online scholarships that are being offered by the Guyanese Government would be provided by Indian universities. These two Indian universities are also working along with the GOAL initiative with the aim of offering PhD and other programmes in Guyana.

IGNOU has also recently organised an online Staff Development Programme (SDP) for the functionaries of GOAL.