UG cannot afford 60% salary increases, students being misled – Former UGSS President
WEDNESDAY, 04 FEBRUARY 2015 21:19 ADMINISTRATOR
Former UGSS President, Richard Rambarran
The following was re-posted from the Facebook page of former University of Guyana Student Society President Richard Rambarran:
Today I am deeply saddened by the shut down of my beloved University of Guyana and as such, permit me if I am lengthy in this post. The university which, in spite of all its shortfalls, managed to serve me diligently and I tried to serve in the same vain as well. The situation at the University of Guyana is one whereby issues are being clouded by much ignorance. My opinion may not resonate well with some as it is not the same lineage of the popular opinion that is being propagated nor does it lend itself wholeheartedly to the causes of the industrial actions being undertaken.The University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) and the University of Guyana Workers Union (UGWU) are being misled by the leaders and formulators of the actions. Since the imposition of the facilities fee, the UGWU and the UGSSA (primarily the UGSSA) have held the position that they wish for increases in staff salary. Similar demands have been made since the 2011 'Operation Rescue UG' but the situation was as clear as then as it is today. The University of Guyana simply, under any circumstance given the current revenues, cover its operational cost, moreover pay additional wages (increased operational cost). There are those which continue to sprout the argument that this is the point where the Government of Guyana (GoG) should be stepping in to ameliorate the situation. What is not often mentioned however is that between the loan facility which is never paid back to the government (grant facility essentially) and the capital expenditure funding for both Tain and Turkeyen campus, the GoG contributes between 700M to 1B GYD annually.While serving my tenure as President of the University of Guyana Students Society (UGSS), moves were made initially by the Vice Chancellor during late 2013 to go the way of increasing the tuition fees of the current and incoming students to $1,000USD for those programmes which fell under the ambit of the $1,000USD regime of 1992 reforms. In addition to this increase, an eradication of the miscellaneous fees and the replacement of it with $50,000 facilities fee across the board was advanced. I vehemently opposed current students paying $1,000USD and suggested that only prospective (incoming students) pay this amount as it would be unfair for the current students of the university to foot the bill for the administration's failure over the years to broker a deal with the UGSS. Herein, this press release at that time:http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/…/ugss-president-says-tu…/. The result of my bargaining with the administration was an increase of the tuition fee from 127,000GYD to 130,000GYD instead of the originally suggested figure for current students at 210,000.I had deep seated concerns about the then third year, now final year students paying the facilities fee, and to a lesser extent, the then second year, now third year students paying the increase in facilities fee. I raise this point in an Academic Board meeting when this facilities fee was posited and was met with quite a resistance from the UG staff. I conveyed that the third and second year students will not be there at University of Guyana to reap the benefits of the investment stemming from the facilities fee as the gestation period (payback/return period) is a long one. Staff members such as Ms. Sharon Roopchand, Mr. Roger Rogers, Mr.Sukrishnalall Pasha, Ms. Bonita Hunter, Mr. Lenandlar Singh and others may possibly attest to this, if they remember this Academic Board meeting. However, the facilities fee went ahead and was imposed on the student body, much to my discontent. I however was contented that the tuition fee did not increase.While I have the understanding that the staff salary at the institution is low, the higher fees that students are paying, in the form of the facilities fee, WAS NOT INTENDED to pay staff salary increases. This money was intended to go as capital injection in to the University of Guyana so as to allow for a better environment for students (the reason for the name, Facilities Fee.) One of the other qualms which I had with the Vice Chancellor was that this new source of revenue in the form of facilities fee, was not to be used for the payments of increases in wages for University of Guyana staff. For me, that increase had to come from the main source of income, the tuition fee. However, logic would prevail to say that TUITION FEES can only increase is there is a noteworthy reason for increasing the tuition fee (better quality lecturers or better facilities.) This is where both the 'Workload Policy' (which I am not familiar with) and the Facilities Fee come in to play. Lecturers at UG must complete a specific workload and the facilities must be up to a certain standard before students begin to pay higher tuition fees. The higher tuition fees, now being warranted and fully justified given improvements in quality, will be increased gradually and then, staff salary can be increased.Today however, we face a situation where the UGSSA reject the workload policy to deliver quality education to us students and want a 60 percent increase in their salary which will undoubtedly put increased strain on our finances. Tuition fees (main source of university's income) has not been increased therefore why should staff salaries (main source of university's expenditure) increase. Change is a continuous process and while I sympathise with the plight of the university staff, it would be unfair to ask the University of Guyana's administration to pay increases to staff when the money is SIMPLY NOT THERE. It would be unfair to the University of Guyana Students to pay an increase in the tuition fee when the quality of education delivered on campus by many lecturers and the facilities that we currently face do not warrant an increase in any shape or form.It is my solemn pea with all of the unions, the UGSSA, the UGWU, and the UGSS to let good sense prevail and let the course of development run its path. Students, you are the ones who will have to foot the increase in the staff salary in the form of increased tuition. The funding cannot come out of thin air. While your 'revolutionary' spirit is admirable, I urge you to work with the Vice Chancellor and the University administration in seeing HOW BEST the facilities fee can be spent to maximise the returns to the university populace. At this juncture, that is the most important issue at hand for you students. Let us see how the money can be put to good work so that we as students can benefit. Do not let yourself be sucked in by the appeal of the strikes, the loud-mouthed irrational cries of some students who do not have the best interest of the university at heart and, those who seek to utilise this opportunity for political campaigning. There is no need to take up arms and block gates, but let your voices be heard in the administration's ear, where you would like the funding to go. If you would like to stand with the UGSSA and the UGWU to campaign for increased salaries, do not be dimwitted and dumbfounded when you find your tuition fee 'subject to change without notice' clause is invoked.All of this I hope works in interest of bringing clarity to the situation at hand.With kind regards and always in students' best interest,
Richard Rambarran
President (2013-2014)
University of Guyana Students' Society source: http://www.newguymedia.com