CENTRAL Committee Member of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Mr. Hydar Ally, recently contrasted conditions currently existing at the University of Guyana (UG) with those that existed prior to 1992, when students had to cope with leaking ceilings by holding up umbrellas.

Speaking at a PPP press conference held at Freedom House on Robb Street, on Monday,  and in the presence of General Secretary Clement Rohee, Central Committee member Indra Chandarpal and Executive Secretary Zulficar Mustapha, Mr. Ally defended statements made by Rohee regarding enormous developments in the education sector since the PPP took office in 1992. “I was once a member of[the] UG Council, and I know there was a time when there was no money allocated in the budget for capital projects at UG. That was the pre-1992 period.
“There was a time when all the lecture halls were leaking profusely. Students had to be moving from one (room) to the next. Some even had to hold up umbrellas….there was a time before 1992 when the university was starved of resources,” Ally recalled.
He said one of the things the new government (PPP) did was to allocate significant sums of money for the capital programme of the university. “When the PPP came into government, the capital programme expanded so much that the university did not know how to spend the money. So the capital allocation was left largely unspent until the Ministry of Education took over the capital programme.”
Probed as to whether there are enough jobs in Guyana to match the qualifications of students coming out of UG, Chandarpal offered: “At all times, we say (jobs) must be in tandem with our developmental thrust as a nation. And even when they are undertaking research, we always encourage research to be national as far as possible, so that it can be used to guide policy makers.”
Speaking on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of UG, Rohee, also Home Affairs Minister, said the party is proud of the fact that the university was established by the PPP government, and was the brainchild of the late President Dr Cheddi Jagan.
Despite opposition, he said Dr Jagan remained focused and relentless in his desire to establish the university which is today the pride of the Guyanese people. “It will be recalled that the university was dubbed ‘Jagan’s night school’ by detractors, due to the fact that many classes were held in the evenings to accommodate working students,” he said.
The University of Guyana started out on the modest location of the Queen’s College Compound with a limited number of students, but grew, both in terms of student population and range of disciplines offered, as the years progressed. Today, the campus sits on sprawling lawns at Turkeyen, and has now expanded its offering to the county of Berbice, again under the current PPP administration.
“Undoubtedly, the university has made progress over the years, and continues to make a significant contribution to the human resource development of our country by providing a wide range of skills, including technical and managerial.
“More recently, the university has also trained medical doctors and lawyers, an indication of the extent to which the university has advanced over the years.
“UG is testimony to the visionary leadership of the PPP, which continues to (provide) transformative projects along the lines of the university,” Rohee observed.
Rohee said that, sadly, the parliamentary opposition parties, as it did with the University of Guyana, continue to frustrate Government’s plans and throw all manner of roadblocks in the path of developmental projects, as is currently the case with Amaila Falls,the CJIA expansion,the Marriott Hotel and the Specialty Hospital.
“The party has taken note of the Government’s efforts in reforming the university to make it more efficient with its management, (and more) financially accountable, focusing on (curriculum) developments that address our economic and social needs. The party wishes the university every success in the realisation of its mandate as the premier learning and research institution in our country,” he said.