Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana (UG), Professor Paloma Mohamed-Martin believes that the government’s plan to offer free tertiary education by 2025 is a step in the right direction. However, she cautioned that such an endeavor should be adequately funded to maintain high standards and ensure quality education is given to the beneficiaries.
Professor Mohamed-Martin made that disclosure during an episode of the Energy Perspectives Podcast. Giving her thoughts on the initiative which has already seen the roll-out of phase one, with student loan write offs for 11,000 students, the Vice Chancellor shared, “I’m a product of free university,” adding that she is a believer in the power of education.
“So, I am a great advocate for free access to education for anyone who is capable and willing and reaching for that,” she added. Professor Mohamed-Martin explained that while the education will be free for the students, “somebody has to pay.”
She recalled her return to UG in 2007-2008, she was moved to tears by the university’s underfunded state. “Everything was broken in the university…they were struggling for every single thing, paper, materials, to clean the toilets. The buildings were ramshackle,” Professor Mohamed-Martin shared.
To this end, the Vice Chancellor stressed that while the goal is to provide free education as a public good, it must be high quality. She explained that currently, UG’s budget is four times what the government provides in subventions, meaning substantial financial investments will be required.
“So that’s going to be a really expensive endeavor, in an output for them (government), but I think they’re committed to doing it and so they have to do it in the right way, so that the students will not say, well, it’s free, but you know, it’s really, not good. We want free, quality and good,” she underscored.
While details on the implementation of free education by 2025 remain unclear to the university at this stage, the Vice Chancellor highlighted the growing number of students at UG, which has nearly doubled from around 6,700 students in 2019 to almost 12,000. She said that this increase signals that people are looking for opportunities, further making the case for investment in education to maintain a high-standard.
Moreover, Professor Mohamed-Martin said that she believes the initiative is likely to succeed. Giving her reason she outlined the university’s action during the COVID-19 pandemic, by allowing affected students to continue their studies and even graduate despite not paying their fees upfront.
“What happened is that people are taking that education seriously. So, I think that based on that quote, unquote experiment, which we did not intend to go on for three years, we know that people are hungry for opportunities… most of them will actually grab that opportunity, and they will grab it with both hands and try to make something of it,” the Vice Chancellor said.
Additionally, she stated that the initiative is a transformative one, especially for gifted persons who just need the opportunity. Professor Mohamed-Martin said that properly funded, the university will succeed in delivering not only accessible but high-quality education.
