As part of its efforts to gradually make tertiary education free, the government, through the Ministry of Finance, has written off approximately $203.7 million in student debt owed to the University of Guyana (UG).
This was highlighted by the Ministry of Finance’s 2024 mid-year report, which revealed that this latest development has benefitted around 346 persons to date. An additional 2,900 persons will benefit from this initiative in the second half of the year.
Free tertiary education by 2025 is an essential element of the PPP/C 2020-2025 manifesto plans. To achieve this, President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali said the government will implement a phased approach, first targeting individuals who hold university loans.
In 2024, during the reading of the national 2024 budget, the Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance and Public Service, Dr Ashni Singh announced phase one of the initiative, benefitting some 13,000 Guyanese.
A whopping $11 billion in loans are expected to be written off by the government in the initial phase.
Additionally, Vice President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo noted that a mechanism to assist students who would have already paid their dues to the university but are repaying loans to commercial banks will be examined.
Another major initiative implemented by the government includes the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL), granting individuals an opportunity to earn a higher education free of cost. A total of 1.6 billion, has been spent on scholarships through this programme to date.
According to the mid-year report, over 4,000 persons graduated in May 2024 with bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, postgraduate diplomas, and other certificate programmes.
Additionally, in the first half of the year, 8,023 GOAL scholarships were also awarded to persons expected to commence studies in September 2024.
These initiatives reinforce the government’s commitment to expanding tertiary education and lifting the heavy financial burdens off of Guyanese students. [DPI]
