Commander-in-Chief, President Irfaan Ali on Friday, awarded three ranks of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) scholarships to the University of Guyana (UG).
The beneficiaries are Corporal Ryan Jordan, Lance Corporal Nikolai Moore and Private Michael Yarde. They were presented with their scholarships by the Head of State at the GDF’s Annual Christmas Lunch on Friday at Camp Ayanganna.
This was in keeping with a commitment the President made while visiting soldiers stationed in the border community of Kaikan, Region Seven (Cuyuni -Mazaruni) last week.
During that visit, the President had said that three of the ranks stationed in the bordering community will benefit from UG scholarships.
“We were in Kaikan and I asked the soldiers from among themselves to select who they thought were priority in gaining scholarships…they selected these three officers and for this I thank them.”
In addressing the GDF ranks at Friday’s luncheon, President Ali said that the scholarship presentation was the tip of the iceberg and that the soldiers will benefit from many other opportunities moving forward.
He pointed to the significance of giving them the power to select their peers which he said will contribute to empower the unit to make decisions collectively. He stressed too that this approach will help to foster an environment in which ideas could be shared through constructive and strategic discussions.
“We have set aside a special number of training opportunities… this time it is not top-down, this time the units will select who they believe is not only most qualified but who they think should be given the priority. This is the way we are going forward.”
Emphasising the importance of responding to the educational aspirations of the ranks, the president, as was done recently at a similar event hosted by the Guyana Police Force, further assured the army ranks that they will benefit from his administration’s 20,000 scholarships that will become available from next year.
“I want you to know we will have a special programme to ensure that you benefit from these scholarships,” he stated while noting however that this will be done based on merit and performance of ranks.
Moreover, President Ali went onto reassure hundreds of ranks at Friday’s luncheon that they will also benefit from programmes designed to enhance the quality of their lives.
