UG should stop the talk and start the work

Dear Editor,
This developing University of Guyana (UG) situation seems to be all talk and nothing else. I am reading and hearing about alleged corruption and the sale of examination papers. I have actually heard that some lecturers give out the examination questions and students prepare the answers long in advance. It seems that the more there are discussions, the more things are coming to the fore, almost like spinning in a ditch.
Now the talk has shifted to private sector executives and the UG vice chancellor expressing a desire for the complete overhaul of this tertiary institution. The saying now is that the business community is articulating a desire to see the local university be recognised as a hub for national research and development.
This is most grandiose but I have a big caution. We must dream big, but we have to start small and move one step at-a-time. We are talking too many things at the same time and this lack of single mindedness is redounding into nothing visible in terms of even making a start.
Let me repeat some simple things that need addressing and that were highlighted in the press by various letter writers – a car park for shuttle operators, a permanent fix for the access road, police patrol for the safety of late students and lecturers, more power outlets in the library and campus as a whole, and a more affordable canteen service.
These things do not call for too much brain power, but if we cannot get these off the ground, then at the higher level of administration and lecturing, we will continue to decline. I know of many recent graduates who cannot access their grades online all because the process that started over fours ago has been left in limbo. People go to the computer centre and wait way beyond nine and there is no one to even open the building. Even a cake shop in the community runs with some kind of regularity and consistency.
I am highlighting these blunders because they all add up and if they are not addressed, no matter what happens, UG will fall apart eventually. We have too many leakages, and we need to fix these before we can think of advancing.
This talk from the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) that seeks to “emphasise that the university should be transformed into a centre for producing a competent and qualified, skilled labour force that meets the needs of Guyana’s rapidly evolving private sector” seems to be all talk indeed.
Yours faithfully,
Kean Morrison