Students shut down UG

– Council members say Kissoon’s sacking was unanamous

Four University of Guyana (UG) Council members on Tuesday said the firing of political science lecturer Freddie Kissoon from the institution after 26 years of service is as a result of him attaining the age of retirement, and also his failure to meet the university’s policy of completing research and publication.

A release to the media from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said “We, members of the University Council, Mrs Indra Chandarpal, Ms Bibi Shadick, Nirmal Rekha and Ms Gail Teixeira, have patiently waited for the last seven days for the university authorities to publicly correct the misinformation, lies and personal attacks that we individually and collectively have been subjected to in the media by uniformed politicians, and on the various social networking sites since the implementation of the council decision of January 18, 2012”.

Kissoon’s contract was terminated on January 23 with immediate effect. The 61-year-old was informed of the termination of his contract through a letter that informed him that the decision was taken at a meeting of the University Council last Wednesday.

The council members said the policies relating to issuing of contracts to academic staff who have reached age 60, date back to many years. “Nothing has changed. In fact, the only thing that changed is that these are being implemented. Despite the fact that the vice chancellor renewed the contracts of 12 retired academic staff members who were over the age of 60 without recourse to the Appointments Committee and council as required by the act, the council in October 2011 ably supported by the legal opinion of an outstanding legal luminary in the Law faculty, decided that it urgently needed to correct this breach of the statutes.”

As a result, the council sought to have the said contracts go through “the correct process”, a process that concluded only on January 18, 2012. A meeting of the council on the said date addressed the issue, and endorsed recommendations made by the Appointments Committee.

“The council considered the appointments of 37 academic staff which included eight of the 12 of those whose contracts were improperly renewed. The council accepted the recommendation that those who were at the level of professor or senior lecturer be retained. Of the remaining four retirees who were referred by the Appointments Committee to the council, the council agreed to retain three of them on a part-time basis.”

The statement continued: “Mr Kissoon reached 60 on December 30, 2010, and as is usual, was allowed to continue to conclude the academic year until August 2011. The council recognised that Mr Kissoon, a retiree and a lecturer two, failed to meet the university’s policy with regards to retention of academic staff, that is, to have a healthy academic record with research and publications reviewed by academic peers and face a competitive process with other applicants.

The council according to the GINA release was “unimpressed and not one single member of the 14 council members present at that meeting, including the University of Guyana Student Society (UGSS) and fellow colleagues of the academic staff, not a single member supported his retention”.

As a result, Kissoon’s contract was rescinded. It was agreed by the council that with four new members of staff and the existing staff, students would not be at a disadvantage as a result of Kissoon’s absence. “These are the incontrovertible facts. The barrage of lies, downright misinformation and political opportunism can somewhat be related to the lack of this information in the public domain, and we the concerned council members expect that these facts disclosed in this release, have set the record straight”.

According to the statement issued by the four council members representing the government, the code of conduct that stipulates that private and internal discussions of the council, and its bodies are not to be disclosed was complied with, but the inability of the university’s authorities to correct the misinformation in the public domain despite “repeated requests”, pushed them to provide the public with a factual account. The release noted that all decisions were made in accordance with UG’s act and statutes as well as by “a collective and by consensus, rarely by vote”. The council comprised members representing civil society, parliamentary opposition and the governing party as well as members of staff at the university.

UG shut down

On Tuesday, students of UG disrupted classes while throwing several remarks at Indra Chandrapal, one of UG’s Council members at the Turkeyen Campus. Several of the doors to the lecturing rooms were shut tight, some with padlocks visible.

These included the Law Building, the George Walcott Lecture Theatre (GWLT) and the Small Lecture Theatre (SLT). Chandrapal was confronted by students and staff of the university at the Learning Resource Centre after pushing their way into the building.

They chanted “The council must go”, “Chandrapal must go”, “Teixeira must go” and “Prem Misir must go.” Chandrapal said nothing in her defence.