A total of 3,876 Guyanese are graduating today from the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL).
Through the programme, the graduates have achieved their Bachelor’s degrees, Master’s degrees and Doctorates, with just over 1,300 receiving certificate and vocational awards.
In his address to the graduates at the National Cultural Centre this morning, Prime Minister Mark Phillips said GOAL has surpassed expectations with more than 54,000 persons having achieved higher education through the programme since its launch in 2021.
“It was created was created with a simple but ambitious purpose to provide Guyanese with greater access to quality education through online learning. The original target was to award 20,000 scholarships between 2021 and 2025. Today, we can say with confidence that the programme has exceeded expectations. To date, GOAL has awarded 54,793 scholarships, surpassing that original target many times over,” the Prime Minister said.
When the programme was first launched, internet connectivity had proven to be a challenge. Many villages in the hinterland were unable to access the programme due to little to no internet connectivity.
However, according to the Prime Minister, the Government has moved to rectify the issue, and has since achieved 100% connectivity across Guyana.
He said Guyanese now have access to the GOAL scholarships regardless of their location.
“The residents in Masakenari, perhaps the southernmost village in Guyana or the residents at Punta Playa, somewhere in the northwest, one of the villages in the northwest, they are connected and they can access the GOAL Scholarship where ever they are located in Guyana because in every community we have at least one Starlink device making connection possible. So, we have been able to have GOAL delivered in every community,” the Prime Minister explained.
Minister of Education, Sonia Parag told the graduates that GOAL has helped to bridge the educational divide, with Guyanese regardless of their socio-economic background now having greater access to tertiary education.
Minister Parag said the today’s graduating class is made of Guyanese from all 10 Administrative Regions.
“I see young people, parents, public servants, workers, entrepreneurs, teachers, health-care workers, persons from every background, every region and every walk of life. I see the true face and the true reflection of Guyana; and that is what we wanted to achieve – to be able to bridge the gap with our hinterland areas, our rural areas and to have in this audience as it is today, a reflection of what Guyana is,” the Education Minister said.
She said this the 4th Graduating Class represents a remarkable reach of the programme.
“3,876 Guyanese are graduating through the GOAL Scholarship Programme, 3,876 Guyanese. Of that number 2,858 are women and 1018 are men. Every single region of Guyana is represented from Region One, they have 99 graduates, Region Two 185 graduates, Region Three 609 graduates, Region Four 2,04 graduates, Region Five 191 graduates, Region Six 350, Region Seven 62, Region Eight 33, Region Nine 82 and Region 10, 261 graduates,” the Education Minister disclosed.
It was explained that the graduates have earned qualifications at every level, which includes 1,308 certificate and vocational awards, 1,150 GROW graduates, 396 Bachelor’s degree recipients, 836 Master’s degree recipients and 35 persons receiving their Doctorates.
The achievements demonstrate that educational advancement is taking place at every stage of life and across every sector of society, the Education Minister reminded.
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