GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Oct 24, CMC – The University of Guyana (UG) is to benefit from a GUY$100 million education grant under a memorandum of understanding signed with the Guyana government and the Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC).
The grant, for the year 2017-18, will provide the UG’s Faculty of Technology with much-needed equipment for its geology labs, curriculum development, training, outreach, and field research, all linked to the emerging oil and gas sector. It also provides specific allocations for all other faculties for student-centered enhancements at the university.
Of the total amount, GUY$55 millionwill be used for equipment and supplies to the Faculty of Technology’s laboratories, GUY15 million for scholarships and training, while GUY$16 million each will go towards the improvements of classrooms and teaching facilities at the Faculty of Health, Earth and Natural Sciences, Humanities and Social Science and Agriculture at the Turkeyen and Tain Campuses and IDCE.
Funds will also be used for supporting the School for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation program with emphasis on the Natural Resources sector; and to support research, curriculum review and development process, marketing, media and stakeholder consultations.
Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman, who handed over GUY$45 million, the first tranche of the funds, to Vice Chancellor Professor Ivelaw Griffith, said that the government views the initiative as an investment in education, and youth development.
“It represents a renewed and enhanced relationship with the Ministry, GGMC with the University of Guyana,” even as the oil and gas sector develops,” Trotman said, adding that research is also needed in the gold and diamond mining sectors as they will not be neglected post-2020 when oil production begins.
Professor Griffith explained that this is one of the university’s most significant grants, which has been negotiated over the last year with the GGMC. Griffith said that it is an investment by the Government in the institution, in an area critical to the nation’s economy. – CMC
