…almost 7000 students register for new semester
The University of Guyana (UG) has taken a decision to reopen classes on November 2, after months of closure and online learning.
On Saturday, the tertiary institution in a press statement said an emergency Academic Board meeting was held on Friday which saw several key measures being finalised for the start of the new semester. This is aimed at a smooth and consistent start of the new semester for students.
“The traditional commencement exercise will also be online this year, as will 65 per cent of the University’s classes,” the statement said.
The remaining 35 per cent will consist of laboratory and field exercises, which is expected to be “blended and face-to-face” engagements across the Turkeyen and Tain campuses for specific courses or sections of the courses only. UG is also in the process of establishing protection protocols and measures for social distancing,
“Students will be notified directly of the schedule and safety measures if any of their courses are expected to be face to face,” the statement clarified.
Meanwhile, the university’s administration is calling on all applicants who not yet submitted their notarised documents for verification to do so immediately. Such items are required to be emailed to [email protected] and must not be presented in person. A help desk has been augmented with 14 different lines to accept calls, 24-hour Whatsapp messages, emails and a chat feature. These platforms will be available from Monday, October 5.
This year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, applications for new entries have reached almost 7000 – the highest number ever reported in the institution’s 57-year existence.
The University’s statement added, “Though additional resources and extended processing hours have been employed for some time, the appearance of some examination results and the need for document verifications have created a backlog of over 2600 applications.”
While they were projecting an October 12 reopening for the new semester, it was shared that moving forward with this date would have disenfranchised persons whose applications are now being processed, resulting in them joining classes late.
Orientation for the new and continuing students will begin on October 26, 2020. It is an onboarding process whereby students are introduced to the regulations, policies, classroom settings and how to calculate their Grade Point Average (GPA) and academic profiles. This year, it will be done online and the necessary information to join will be made available, along with login information.
UG has previously announced several dates for a possible reopening but then backpedalled due to the progression of the coronavirus. In June, it moved to block all access to its two campuses – at Turkeyen and Tain – allowing only security and staff with top-level security clearance to be present at the institution.
