UG NEEDS BETTER LEADERSHIP
May 04, 2017 , http://www.kaieteurnewsonline....s-better-leadership/
For almost two decades, attempts to raise the standards at the University of Guyana (UG) have been stymied by the last government, despite several protests by the students and workers. It seems that raising tuition fees and promoting senior staff have taken precedence over improving the existing poor conditions at the institution.
Currently, UG is top heavy in terms of senior staff. It has a Chancellor, Vice Chancellor and a Pro-Chancellor, three Deputy Vice Chancellors, a Registrar and four deputy registrars, as well as directors and heads of departments, to manage less than 5,000 students.
This is a very serious problem for a university whose standards have been falling due to inadequate funds, poor management and lack of qualified academic staff – less than ten percent are PhDs.
Universities are rated for their programmes and the quality of their academic staff. Therefore, the focus should be on hiring qualified lecturers and improving the conditions in order to bolster UG’s poor image and credibility as a tertiary institution. It was not prudent to appoint three new Deputy Vice Chancellors at a time when the university is cash-strapped.
Why were these appointments made and who approved them?
The recent 35 percent hike in tuition fees over a three-year period is gut-wrenching for many students, especially the poor ones, who are being priced out of a university education. It seems that only the children of rich parents or grandparents will be able to afford tertiary education in Guyana.
Many are appalled at the increase in tuition fees, which is viewed as an assault on education. Post-secondary education is now significantly more expensive and much harder for the poor to access. Many have called on the UG administration to raise the standards of the institution and not tuition.
The increase in tuition is seen as an unconscionable act. Many of the students are already finding it difficult to make ends meet.
It looks like the senior administrators at UG are either insensitive to the needs of the students or are not concerned about the substandard conditions at the institution. They seem clueless about the sacrifices that poor parents have to make to send their children to UG.
Plain and simple, even though there may be good intentions, they ought to know that unlike the American universities (which they seem to be trying to emulate) which have endless amounts of cash, UG is broke.
Therefore, they should cease and desist from making such foolhardy decisions.
UG has been in dire financial straits for some time now, and the management has not learnt from the mistakes of their predecessors. For example, a delegation went on a three-day promotion trip to the United States to raise funds for the institution. Sources claimed that the trip, which cost more than US$30,000, raised only US$8,000.
As if that was not enough, an inexplicable attempt was made to rent a building for $6 million per month to house a business school. This amount does not include the maintenance of the building. This kind of reckless spending of UG’s scarce financial resources has bolstered the initial concerns voiced by the students. However, as reported, the UG Council wisely voted against the rental of the building.
It looks like the administration continues to ignore the poor conditions at UG as highlighted by the students. Among them are the broken chairs and desks in the lecture rooms, a dysfunctional public address system, lack of ventilation in the classrooms, deplorable conditions in the washrooms, inferior and inefficient laboratories, a malfunctioning library, inadequate student services and poor landscaping, among others. Not to mention the poor salaries being paid to the workers.
Credible leadership is needed to improve UG.
