The Working People’s Alliance (WPA) is calling for complete review of the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) Scholarship Programme, in wake of  the University of Staffordshire in the UK distancing itself from the programme and courses offered through the online academy.

The University of Staffordshire has said that it has no agreement with the International Skill Development Corporation (ISDC) to offer courses through the GOAL Scholarship Programme, and has never had any such agreement.  

During a press conference today, WPA Executive Member, Tacuma Ogunseye said hundreds of Guyanese could be affected, and a review of the GOAL Scholarship Programme is warranted.

Ogunseye said there are several questions about the GOAL programmes and the billions of dollars that have been allocated to it by the Government.

“It was a scheme designed to put money in the hands of the PPP racketeers, and it had little to do with enhancing education. And, we believe that, in any reconsideration of the project, we would be hard press to agree to a continuation, which doesn’t integrate it into the national university system,” Ogunseye told reporters.

The WPA believes the online scholarship programme should be integrated into the University of Guyana.

“We would hope that a review of the project would eventually place the project or integrate it into the University of Guyana, so that it becomes part and parcel of that institution. We are not buying into the government’s attempt to have two parrel universities, one that they control based on party and partisan oversight and a process that have led to frustration among the hundreds of persons, who have signed onto the project just to be told that they are in a bogus scheme,” Ogunseye said.

He said the Government has done a disservice to the hundreds of Guyanese, who had signed up for the courses that were alleged to have been offered by the University of Staffordshire.

Co-leader of the WPA, Dr David Hinds made it clear that the WPA is not against scholarship programmes but said it must be transparent, and void of scandals.

“Look, we welcome any initiative that is going to help our young people upgrade their skills, their skillset, their knowledge base. So, in principle, nothing is wrong with a scholarship programme but as we said with this government, it is not so much the projects that they advance, it is the objective of the projects they advanced, and how they manage these projects. And so, we would not want, we do not support a project that first of all undercuts the University of Guyana, we feel very strongly about that; and secondly, a project that devalues the skillset of our young people other than adding value to what they already have,” Dr Hinds said.

Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, in addressing the issue recently, said the denial of the University of Staffordshire might have been as a result of a fallout between itself and the ISDC. The Government, through GOAL, intends to meet with both the University and ISDC to resolve the matter.

However, according to the Government, if not resolved, two other Universities in the UK are willing to use the grades obtained by the students and issue certification.

GOAL has since removed the University of Staffordshire from among the Universities on its offering list.

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