Opposition to continue free education to secondary level

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC):

The main opposition coalition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), while promising free education up to secondary school, has backed away from stating its position on university tuition, the Demerara Waves online news service reported yesterday.

APNU presidential candidate David Granger guaranteed that education at the nursery, primary and secondary schools would continue to be free, in speaking at an education symposium at a privately owned remedial college.

But Granger said he would first have to "look at the books" to ascertain the health of the finances at the state's tertiary institution, the University of Guyana (UG), Demerara Waves said.

"Money will have to be found to put the University of Guyana on a sound footing," Granger told the audience made up mostly of fee-paying Community College students.

Sources of funding

Local and international sources of funding, the APNU candidate said, would have to be identified to revive UG, plagued by suspended programmes, low pay for lecturers, an inadequate library and broken-down laboratories.

Granger accused the People's Progressive Party administration of compromising UG's standards, saying the PPP had 'strangled' the university.

For most programmes, UG tuition fee is 127,000 Guyanese dollars a year - worth about 1,000 US dollars almost 20 years ago when the fee was set.

Granger promised that an APNU administration would provide free school rides, meals and uniforms for Guyanese children. He also said that 'steps would be taken' to pay teachers more and increase the retirement age, Demerara Waves reported.

"That is how serious we are about education because you can't do anything, you can't be anything without education," he was quoted as saying.

School-uniform programme

The Bharrat Jagdeo-led administration's school-uniform programme provides clothing for the poorest students.

The APNU's suite of education promises also includes widening broadband Internet access to Georgetown. "Information is an entitlement; you cannot make decisions unless you get information," Granger said.

The PPP government continues to roll out a fibre-optic cable to provide Internet connectivity for e-governance and free access to some economically disadvantaged groups.

Last week, the government announced a supplier for its One Laptop per Family programme, which is tied into its Internet connectivity initiative.