UG Student body says protests legitimate

University of Guyana Student Society (UGSS) President Duane Edwards is taking umbrage with the Cabinet Secretary’s referring to the body as “extremists” and sought to clear the air on why the body is engaged in protest action.

Edwards in a statement said the body was engaged in “legitimate and humanistic exercise” which is aimed at highlighting the issues and problems that beset the Turkeyen Campus on a daily basis.

“Instead of trying to understand the reasons and the legitimate basis for these actions, Dr Luncheon has sought to use language in a negative and intimidating manner to brand students as reckless and extremist,” Edwards’ statement claimed.

The University of Guyana (UG) is an ailing institution, Edwards pointed out.

“Everything that could be wrong is wrong at the university,” he stated. From the “petty politics” at the council level to the problematic administration of the university to ‘deplorable’ science laboratories and ‘inadequate’ infrastructure, Edwards said are some of the problems that beset students.

He added that these problems are enumerated not to taint the image of the institution, “they are highlighted, however, to make the case that it is only expected that students, overwhelmed by these exigencies, would react in a manner that could bring public attention to our difficulties.”

Among the issues plaguing the Turkeyen Campus is the shortage of staff. All faculties and schools are affected by an endemic shortage of lecturers in general and amply qualified lecturers in particular. A situation that was noted by the out-going Vice Chancellor, Professor Lawrence Carrington.

“We will not justify the label of university if all we can show in a teaching and research staff of 359 academics, nine are professors and 17 are senior lecturers.

Only two departments are headed by professors, both temporary and only four by senior lecturers, one temporary.” “This debilitating shortage of lecturers is affecting the quality of programme instruction the students receive since lecturers are expected to fetch extra loads to make up for the shortage,” Edwards stated.

Edwards declared that the extremity is not the students, rather the conditions in which they are forced to learn. The UGSS along with the University of Guyana Senior Staff Association and the University of Guyana Workers’ Union are currently engaged in protest action over the various inadequacies at the campus.

At a recent post Cabinet press briefing, Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon called on the UG administration to take more “forceful” action to address the protest on the Tukenyen Campus. Dr Luncheon stated that the administration should have taken a more aggressive stance against the UGSS.