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('news', 0, 548, 557, 'und', 0, '<p>STUDENTS from across the country showed up in their numbers with teachers in tow to participate in the University of Guyana (UG) 2018 Open/Career Day at the Turkeyen Campus on Friday morning.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The event which was packed to capacity, saw students filling the many booths that were in place to share information on career choices and programmes that the tertiary institution offered.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In his keynote address, Professor Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith, Vice-Chancellor, UG, charged the large gathering of students in the George Walcott Lecture Theatre that education is the enabler to make change and for them to become agents of change.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He added that UG is a place for students to change their circumstances — and make use of the 113 programmes offered by the tertiary institution — to become professionals.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Professor Griffith disclosed that when UG started in 1963, there were only 164 students and only five degree programmes offered.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He added that today, UG has 8,255 students with 113 programmes and they are seeking to establish a Department of Petroleum Engineering to gear young people for the oil and gas sector. He said next semester, UG will launch a psychology degree programme.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The UG Vice-Chancellor admitted that even though UG is not perfect, they are working towards making improvements and advised students to be prepared to embrace certain values to be the change they want.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He encouraged the gathering of students to follow three tips to becoming successful: to desist from being comfortable with mediocrity, to focus on excellence and to practise the value of respect.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He had a lively interactive session with the students in which one, a pupil of Queen’s College who provided the correct answers to his three questions, won herself $50,000 as part of a scholarship to apply to UG to pursue further studies upon completion of her secondary education.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Meanwhile, in opening remarks, Dr Nigel Gravesande, UG Registrar, told the students the event is geared towards the premier tertiary national institution to showcase and make a direct appeal for them to expand their academic scope.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He pointed out that they should consider UG as the institution of their first choice upon completion of their secondary education, since they have more than 100 programmes in various disciplines.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Dr Gravesande added that UG’s mission is to respond to the developmental needs of Guyana, regionally and globally, since many graduates of UG are assisting in many continents, which is a testimony to the quality of education they provide.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He said it is no secret that UG continues to provide quality graduates and the open/career day is to whet the appetites of students to get registered for available programmes.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Dr. Gravesande however, encouraged the students to visit the various booths and ask questions in an effort to be informed of their choice of careers.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Also making remarks was Assistant Registrar, Students’ Welfare, Daniella King, who said that the event is specially designed to enlighten students of the programmes offered by UG, to provide insights into their career choices and for them to be aware of the steps they can take to pursue further studies at UG.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://guyanachronicle.com/2018/02/17/secondary-school-students-flock-ug-career-fair\">http://guyanachronicle.com/2018/02/17/secondary-school-students-flock-ug-career-fair</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 549, 558, 'und', 0, '<p>5 researchers from developing countries are preparing to accept OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards for their work in the physical sciences.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>They’re early-career researchers from Bangladesh, Cameroon, Ecuador, Guyana and Indonesia, and they’re being recognized for their outstanding work in the physical sciences – mathematics, physics and chemistry – and for mentoring young scientists in their communities. Their research runs the gamut from improving predictions of tsunami behavior, to using natural resources for energy storage, to developing water filters from recycled materials. And they have had to overcome formidable challenges to become scientists.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<div id=\"fb-root\"></div>\r\n<script>(function(d, s, id) {\r\n  var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\r\n  if (d.getElementById(id)) return;\r\n  js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;\r\n  js.src = \'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.12\';\r\n  fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\r\n}(document, \'script\', \'facebook-jssdk\'));</script>\r\n<div class=\"fb-video\" data-href=\"https://www.facebook.com/ElsevierConnect/videos/1559124950850559/\" data-width=\"500px\" data-show-text=\"false\"><blockquote cite=\"https://www.facebook.com/ElsevierConnect/videos/1559124950850559/\" class=\"fb-xfbml-parse-ignore\"><a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/ElsevierConnect/videos/1559124950850559/\"></a><p>Join us as we celebrate 5 extraordinary #WomenInScience as they accept the OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award at the #AAASmtg. #ElsevierLife</p>Posted by <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/ElsevierConnect/\">Elsevier</a> on Saturday, February 17, 2018</blockquote></div>\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p>Dr. Dawn Iona Fox, a Lecturer at the University of Guyana, Turkeyen Campus, is being recognized for her research on converting local waste products into materials to solve environmental problems. Currently she is focusing on on improving drinking water quality at the household level for vulnerable communities and on “water-stress” events such as floods, storms and hurricanes. To this end, she is developing a household water treatment filter made entirely from recycled and locally available materials which could be deployed internationally.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In 2016, she co-founded a group called Women in Science &amp; Engineering (WiSE) to support, empower and advocate for girls and women to pursue and flourish in STEM careers. Winning this award, she wrote, “gives me the confidence to continue my advocacy and outreach to encourage girls and women to consider STEM careers.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.elsevier.com/connect/elsevier-at-aaasmtg-live-updates-with-women-in-science-winners#updates\">https://www.elsevier.com/connect/elsevier-at-aaasmtg-live-updates-with-women-in-science-winners#updates</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'plain_text_new'),
('news', 0, 550, 559, 'und', 0, '<p>IN a bid to further elevate the profile of the University of Guyana (UG), Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ivelaw Griffith, is touting the participation of undergraduate students in research projects.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Speaking to the Department of Public Information (DPI) recently, Professor Griffith said that a university of substance is not only in the business of teaching but of enabling new knowledge to be created. That new knowledge, he said, is created through research and publishing. The Vice-Chancellor said officials from government and civil society should be able to turn to the university to seek out experts in particular areas.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>According to him, that is the place where the country’s premier tertiary institute hopes to go through research. Back in 2016, the university launched an undergraduate research programme, which has seen much success. “I have seen the power of getting undergraduate students involved in research. The idea is to get students from the first year, not waiting until your third and fourth year to be involved in research,” he told DPI.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Professor Griffith recalled that in April of 2017 at the Tain, Berbice campus, several students presented their research papers. According to the Vice-Chancellor, the question is how to motivate students to become involved in research, and lecturers to publish with their students. The answer to this, he said, is that the University has to become affiliated with organisations. It is hoped that students from the University of Guyana could also travel abroad to present their research papers.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“It is not going to be a peer-reviewed A1 scientific journal, but it is setting the stage for them to be comfortable with having research as something that they do and using that research as something they do to move to the other level,” Professor Griffith explained. That next level could be postgraduate studies or moving into the workforce, but having research capabilities, enhances the student’s research sense of self, while at the same time elevating the profile of the university, the Vice-Chancellor said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He disclosed that part of the university’s plans for re-organisation in this area will see the establishment of a deanery for graduate studies and research. Speaking about the recently-launched University Press, the Vice-Chancellor said the entity now has a board with a number of overseas-based members and is headed by Professor Ken Danns.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In March of 2017, the university signed an agreement with the Ian Randle publishers out of Jamaica, one of the largest established, scholarly publishing houses to establish the UG Press. The intent of that, Professor Griffith said, is to enable research and publishing, and create a mechanism. “The press is part of the project of the renaissance of lifting the credibility of the publication. The University’s Press is hoping to publish books, journals, monographs and significant lectures. There are also plans for digital publications, Professor Griffith said. (DPI)</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://guyanachronicle.com/2018/02/20/ugs-undergraduates-could-conduct-research-vice-chancellor\">http://guyanachronicle.com/2018/02/20/ugs-undergraduates-could-conduct-research-vice-chancellor</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 551, 560, 'und', 0, '<p>First Lady, Sandra Granger on Wednesday evening attended a lecture at the University of Guyana (UG) held to observe International Mother Language Day.The event, which was hosted in UG’s Education Lecture Theatre, was coordinated by Lecturer in the Language and Culture Department, Charlene Wilkinson, according to a release from the Ministry of the Presidency.International Mother Language Day (IMLD) is a worldwide annual observance held to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. It was first announced by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on November 17,1999.This is the first year that observances are being held in Guyana and the focus is being placed on Guyanese Creole and Indigenous languages Arawak, Akwaio, Carib, Macushi, Patamona, Wai Wai, Wapichan and Warrau, the release said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/photos/02/23/first-lady-attends-ugs-international-mother-language-day/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/photos/02/23/first-lady-attends-ugs-international-mother-language-day/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 552, 561, 'und', 0, '<p>Five&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/governance/gender/\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;\">women scientists</a>&nbsp;from the developing world have been awarded an international prize for research that promotes socio-economic development and a better quality of life.<br />\r\nThe awards — a partnership between the Elsevier Foundation and the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) — were presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), which took place in Austin, Texas this month (15-19 February).</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Hasibun Naher from Bangladesh, Germaine Djuidje Kenmoe from Cameroon, Silvia González Pérez from Ecuador, Dawn Iona Fox from Guyana and Witri Wahyu Lestari from Indonesia each received a US$5,000 cash prize for their work.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Naher was recognised for her work on&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/communication/icts/\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;\">computer simulation</a>&nbsp;of tsunamis; Djuidje Kenmoe for the study of molecular friction-and-wear for improving energy efficiency; González Pérez for molecular modelling of new sustainable materials; Fox for work on converting waste into materials with added value; and Lestari for her research on the synthesis of metal-organic frameworks for various applications in medicine or environmental protection.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>OWSD president, Jennifer Thomson, says the women distinguished with the award “show that, if they have the opportunities and support, women in the developing world can become leaders in their fields”.<br />\r\nNot all women have the opportunity to do so. According to&nbsp;<a href=\"https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/usr15_is_the_gender_gap_narrowing_in_science_and_engineering.pdf\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;\">2015 data from UNESCO</a>, women in much of the world face social, political and economic barriers to dedicating their working life to science — but those who live in developing countries can face additional, different obstacles.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Poverty, for instance, is strongly linked with unequal access to secondary&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/communication/education/\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;\">education</a>, and this may keep women from obtaining a university degree in almost in any field.<br />\r\nAnother obstacle is related to culture and traditions that maintain inequalities between men and women. According to a&nbsp;<a href=\"http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0025/002534/253479E.pdf\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;\">UNESCO report</a>&nbsp;from 2017, parents with more traditional beliefs about&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/governance/gender/\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;\">gender</a>&nbsp;roles tend to discourage their daughters from pursuing a scientific career.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“To become a scientist in a developing country, a woman must be creative and committed”, Djuidje Kenmoe, the Cameroonian OWSD-Elsevier prize winner, told&nbsp;<em>SciDev.Net</em>. This, she added, is because in addition to academic work, she will often be “tied to social and familiar responsibilities and duties”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>This highlights the importance of a prize that is specific to women scientists who live and work in developing countries, argues Hortensia Moreno, a researcher from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and a specialist in gender studies.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>According to Moreno, this prize highlights the need to promote women scientists’ presence in scientific fields they may have been prevented from entering — both in formal ways, for example through restrictions on studying or entering into academic life, and in symbolic ways, through “myths, stereotypes and narratives that feed the false notion that women do not have an aptitude for science”. Djuidje Kenmoe believes that science and education can promote change in her community. This is why part of her work is about convincing families that they “should offer a girl the same opportunities they offer to a boy. Girls ought to know that when they have a job they can be financially independent, and have an important power in family decisions”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>According to Moreno, prizes also represent the interests of the organisations that grant them. They can “legitimize economic power”, but also have value as “they allow even a minimal distribution of wealth”.<br />\r\nThe Elsevier Foundation has faced strong criticism from the scientific communities in several European countries, who pay large sums to publish and access articles in journals owned by Elsevier. At the end of last year,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/elsevier-declines-to-cut-off-german-universities-that-cancelled-journal-subs/3008505.article\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;\">200 German academic institutions cancelled their subscriptions</a>&nbsp;to the publishing house in a push for national negotiation that offers fairer payments for their publications and open access for the institutions that produce them.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2018/02/24/guyanese-female-scientist-awarded/\">https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2018/02/24/guyanese-female-scientist-awarded/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 553, 562, 'und', 0, '<p>“A NATURAL language is the archive where the experiences, knowledge and beliefs of a community are stored.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The above words were uttered by the late Spanish linguist Fernando Lázaro Carreter. It underscores the relationship between language and identity. Guyana’s many languages are a testament to our rich culture. Language preservation needs to be one of our priorities as we move forward as individuals and as a people. Mashramani and International Mother Language Day are reminders of that.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"mr-10\" src=\"/sites/default/files/gallery/Language2.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" />&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Wednesday last marked the first time that International Mother Language Day was celebrated in Guyana. The worldwide observance is held on February 21 every year since February 2000 with its goal being to “promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism”. For us here in Guyana, it may be considered fortuitous that the occasion is so close to our Mashramani, a time when we celebrate our cultural diversity.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The event was held in the Education Lecture Theatre of the University of Guyana by the Guyana Languages Unit Working Group and the Faculty of Education and Humanities. Attendees were seated in a circle for the festivities, creating the ambience of a village gathering. Throughout the event, which lasted for over two hours, the audience was able to listen to stories and songs told in Arawak, Akawaio, Patamuna, Wapichan, Guyanese Creole (or Creolese) and English.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>It was clearly evident very early on in the afternoon’s programme that it would be remiss to categorise all the Indigenous languages together into a group as such. Each of the languages spoken at the event had its own cadence and stress, its own identity. For some in attendance, it was their first time hearing those languages. From Michael Khan in his persona of ‘Ole Man Pappie’, who told a “Nancy Story” in Creolese, to Aunty Joan’s story of one of the legends of the village of Wakapoa, to name but a few of the presenters, the audience was invested to the end.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>After the event, and as preparations were getting underway for the graduation of the students of the Creolese Writing class, the Pepperpot Magazine was able to speak to Charlene Wilkinson. Wilkinson, a lecturer in English at the University of Guyana, was one of the event’s organisers. She explained that she had no intentions of letting the International Mother Language Day pass by this year as it had in previous years. With Wilkinson receiving support from her colleagues, Dhaniswary Jaganath, Dr. Tamir De Lisser, Michael Khan, students of the Creolese Writing class and others, the group was able to put together the event.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Wilkinson acknowledged that the event was not as organised as it could have been. She clarified that she had put out a call for participants but that, in most cases, participants came in at the last minute. The event was thus not able to have a structured programme. This though worked in its favour for she said, “There is danger in too much planning too.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Her dream she told the Pepperpot Magazine is to have the event continue without a rigid structure in years to come. “If people get to understand each other’s aesthetic then we will begin to learn to blend together, which, for me, is what nation-building is about,” she said. Her firm belief is that we can create unity through the arts and through similar events.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Language and identity are two concepts that are tied up in each other. Indeed, Wilkinson emphatically noted that they are inseparable. Indeed, the talk she had prepared to deliver at the graduation later that evening was titled “Not a Blade o’ Grass, Not a Word Guh Loss”. The talk’s purpose was to show the relationship between environmental preservation and language preservation.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Our languages, especially the Indigenous languages, still carry the secrets and the knowledge and the wisdom of that relationship to the environment that the Western culture has destroyed,” explained Wilkinson. She conceded that it is true that individual words from the languages can be learnt. However, she noted that these words come with the language’s grammar, its body language and the relationship of the human body with the Earth itself. Because of that interconnectedness, cutting an Indigenous speaker off from their language also means severing that relationship to the Earth.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>There is danger in relegating Creolese and the languages of the First Peoples to the background to put English at the forefront. Saying “English only” can begin the process of killing a language. Indeed, Wilkinson noted that we have evidence of that right here in Guyana. Berbice Dutch she said had been thriving at the time Guyana changed from Dutch to British hands. The British insisted on the speaking of solely English in schools which led to the eventual demise of Berbice Dutch.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Even after the end of the colonial period and perhaps even today, as Wilkinson pointed out, Indigenous children are being admonished for speaking their mother tongue. There is a fear, she explained, that speaking their languages will prevent them from being able to learn English. However, that is simply not the case. “It is more natural for us to take on many languages,” she emphasised.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>One of the most important lessons from International Mother Language Day 2018 is that all languages are valid and valuable. It is true that English enables communication with our global community. This though does invalidate the worth of Creolese, Arawak, Akawaio, Arecuna, Carib, Macushi, Patamuna, Wai Wai, Wapichan or Warrau, and that is worth remembering.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://guyanachronicle.com/2018/02/25/guyanese-languages-and-identity\">https://guyanachronicle.com/2018/02/25/guyanese-languages-and-identity</a></u></p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n', '', 'full_html'),
('news', 0, 554, 563, 'und', 0, '<p>Over the past few weeks the nation has been in preparatory mode for the highly-anticipated 48th Republic Anniversary, which was celebrated on February 23. As is customary, many events were staged across the country; in every Region, there were flag-raising ceremonies, costume parades for children and adults, and a gamut of local talent shows. The country was abuzz with activity and revelry. In addition to these activities, it is also a tradition for the museums and libraries to host lectures and exhibitions with the aim of evoking a sense of patriotism and understanding of the Republic celebrations. Indeed, it should be a time of reflection; Guyana attained republican status on February 23, 1970, some 48 years ago.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Prior to the attainment of republican status, the country attained independence from Great Britain on May 26, 1966. These are significant milestones in the life of this country. More importantly, it provided us, as a nation, with an opportunity to reflect on the path we have traversed over these years as well as the pains and tribulations we experienced in the past. While the challenges are still formidable today, citizens should be reminded not to lose sight of the patriotism and resilience that brought us this far as a nation. Our leaders should also be reminded that it is their responsibility to foster a society in which there is peace, progress, prosperity and a sense of patriotism.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We have witnessed the coming together of our people over the last few days with respect to the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy and when thousands gathered as the Golden Arrowhead was hoisted, commemorating yet another milestone in Guyana’s history. While the older generation of Guyanese were undoubtedly reflecting on the journey and struggles that led to this point, we should pause to consider what the younger folks were thinking of. Was there a feeling of deep patriotism or national loyalty? Were there reflections on the struggles of our foreparents? More importantly, did the pomp and ceremony ignite within them the deep-seated sense of national pride?</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Over the coming years, Guyanese at home and abroad will be preparing for the oil and gas sector. However, in the midst of preparations and the grand plans, the border controversy with Venezuela has gained new life. Venezuela has staunchly been against oil exploration in Guyana’s Stabroek Block, where multiple oil deposits were found by ExxonMobil, and has since laid claim to the Essequibo region, which represents two thirds of Guyana’s territory. The United Nations recently announced that it would be sending the border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for a judicial settlement. Venezuela, however, has strongly rejected the move. In essence, the country’s sovereignty is under threat.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Guyana’s Head of State, however, anticipates that Guyana’s successful defence of its territorial integrity will not only boost local development but investors’ confidence in Guyana, especially in light of the impending oil and gas production. The period ahead, therefore, will require maturity on the part of the two countries and the eventual acceptance of the ICJ’s decision.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Through it all, the citizens of Guyana will also be called upon to hold firm to their patriotism and to be steadfast in their support for our sovereignty. While there will undoubtedly be many instances in the future for the citizenry to band together, Guyanese from all walks gathered on Sunday at the Seawall bandstand for the “IS WE OWN” concert, which was organised by the University of Guyana and which featured renowned Guyanese musician Dave Martins and his Band. It was indeed a rousing and proud moment to be in the midst of the crowd singing in unison to the lyrics of the song “Not a Blade of Grass”. It was a fitting culmination of this year’s Republic Anniversary celebrations and reminder of the need for a revival of the patriotism that lies within all of us.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://guyanatimesgy.com/is-we-own-2/\">https://guyanatimesgy.com/is-we-own-2/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 555, 564, 'und', 0, '<p>The University of Guyana [UG] library is poised to become a hub for learning and innovation. Moreover, the Caribbean Development Bank [CDB] has not been opposed to lending financial support to the national university to realise this goal. Representatives of UG and CDB at a simple ceremony in the Vice Chancellery, UG Turkeyen Campus, announced that a grant of US$149,985 [approximately $30M has been approved to bring to fruition the construction of a new library.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>With modern designs, the library, which will be situated on a plot of land west of the current library, will see a contribution from Government and UG amounting to approximately US$26,000 [$5.2M] towards the project. Speaking on behalf of CDB yesterday, Director of Economics, Dr. Justin Ram, described the support to the library as yet another initiative of the bank to collaborate with UG and by extension, Guyana. Dr. Ram noted, “CDB is pleased to be supporting Guyana in making progress on Goal Four as outlined in the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda – ensuring inclusive and quality education for all and promoting life-long learning.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Even as he labelled the Technical Assistance Grant as another milestone in the bank’s partnership with the Government of Guyana and UG, Dr. Ram noted that recently the bank had made available another grant to the university to enhance a regulatory framework to improve its operation. “[Yesterday] announcement signals that this institution is one step closer to the construction of a new library, towards improving the quality of education this campus delivers,” said Dr. Ram.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Through funding from the CDB grant a comprehensive assessment will be undertaken to determine the adequacy and suitability of the current infrastructure. Dr. Ram said that final designs and cost estimates for the new library will be prepared. But according to him, “We are optimistic that this process will place the university further along the path to having new facilities that are environmentally resilient, socially inclusive and a place of study and life-long learning for the men and women who attend this institution.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>According to Deputy Vice Chancellor Barbara Reynolds, the library project, which commences immediately, will be done in two phases, the first of which will be completed within seven months. Regarding the old library, Reynolds said that moves will be made to assess its structural integrity and “providing it is structurally robust then the sensible thing to do will be to repurpose it.” According to Dr. Ram, the decision to invest in the new library was nestled in the realisation that a library is important to the lives of students.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Libraries boost learning outcomes, providing the resources students’ need to achieve success in their course work. Libraries open access to students from vulnerable socio-economic context who otherwise would not be able to afford; they can lay the foundation and provide a safe space for the pursuit of innovative ideas that can transform, not only Guyana, but our Region and our World,” said Dr. Ram. The move towards a new library comes against a backdrop of a UG library that has been fraught with many deficiencies over the years.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Even as he expressed appreciation for the support, UG Vice Chancellor, Professor Ivelaw Griffith said, “We are all anxious to move the process with alacrity so that we can access the funding to start the various components of what we envisage, things that will be helpful to this university.” Once completed, the new library will include a number of modern amenities complete with a layout that incorporate collaborative as well as independent spaces, according to Chief Librarian, Ms. Gwyneth George. She informed that reading rooms in the new library will have a structure unlike the old library and, “we want to incorporate the technology in such a way that we create learning and creative spaces.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2018/03/01/cdb-grant-to-help-fund-modern-ug-library/\">https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2018/03/01/cdb-grant-to-help-fund-modern-ug-library/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 556, 565, 'und', 0, '<p>The University of Guyana (UG) yesterday signed a grant with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for just under US$150,000 ($31m) to begin the process for a new library while government has provided US$26, 000 towards the project.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The US$149,985 grant which has been provided under the bank’s technical assistance programme will fund a seven-month design and costing exercise which is the first phase in the construction of a modern library which will have less shelves and more computers.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>According to University Librarian, Gwyneth George the new building which will be located west of the current library will have a layout which caters for both collaborative and independent spaces</p>\r\n\r\n<p>She explained that in designing the building UG will focus on incorporating technology in such a way that both a space for learning and creating will be realized.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Spaces where people are free to sit where they wish and converse, special rooms and special equipment where students can prepare tutorials or design projects as wells as an Auditorium to teach librarians so that they can better assist student to access online learning material such as electronic books and journals are expected features of the new library.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>George explained that since a 1997 assessment found the current library to be lacking the department has included a request for a library upgrade in every annual report and she is excited to finally see work being done.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Barbara Reynolds explained that the construction will be done in two phases with CDB’s grant being specifically earmarked for the first phase.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“While we have a conceptual layout we will have a team of civil and construction engineers do the highly detailed technical work. We will then have Drawing and Designs [at the end of seven months]. We anticipate that very soon you will see in the newspapers calls for expression of interest to provide these designs,” Reynolds explained.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>CDB Director of Economics Justin Ram further explained that the Bank is aware of the constraints and deficiencies of the current library which prevent it from operating at an optimal level and is pleased to assist in addressing one of these primary constraints, poor infrastructure.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Under this technical assistance grant a comprehensive assessment will be undertaken to determine the adequacy and suitability of the current infrastructure [and] final designs and cost estimates for construction of the new library will be prepared,” he said, noting that the CDB is “optimistic that this process will place the University further along the path to having new facilities that are environmentally resilient, socially inclusive and a place of study and lifelong learning for the men and women who attend this institution.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Once completed the building will be “big enough” for the needs of the university community and have facilities for those members who have special needs.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The current Library building will then undergo an assessment of structural integrity.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Providing it is structurally robust or can be made structurally robust it will be repurposed,” Reynolds noted.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/stories/03/02/cdb-31m-grant-launches-process-for-new-ug-library/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/stories/03/02/cdb-31m-grant-launches-process-for-new-ug-library/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 557, 566, 'und', 0, '<p>Visiting Professor at the School of Enterprise and Business Innovation (SEBI) at the University of Guyana Dr. Leyland Lucas is advocating more robust support from the commercial banking sector for startup business ventures “in their greatest time of need” as one of the building blocks for the creation of an “entrepreneurial ecosystem” in Guyana.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In an article written for publication in the forthcoming issue of The Guyana Review, Professor Lucas argues that while “regulatory demands” place constraints on banks’ lending practices, this does not remove them from “the realm of responsibility” for promoting entrepreneurship and supporting the ecosystem. Commercial banks, Lucas contends, must “find ways to embrace entrepreneurship and the creation of new entities.” He says that “special programmes must be designed by banks to meet the needs of entrepreneurs, such that the ecosystem can thrive and become self-sustaining,” adding that “banks cannot survive by simply lending to established businesses…if banks are not there for entrepreneurs in the embryonic stage and their greatest time of need, then how can they expect to be embraced later? Such behaviour is tantamount to the absentee parent who, upon a child’s rise to a position of prominence, suddenly emerges and seeks to benefit.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Lucas, meanwhile, is also calling for credit unions, which, he says, “are the guardians of significant financial assets” to play their role in the entrepreneurship system “as enablers of economic activity rather than guardians of savings,” a position which he says can be realized with “enlightened management and not much risk” and which can contribute to the creation of a new group of “wealth generators.” Such a move, Lucas says, requires personnel with the necessary knowledge to effectively perform the duties associated with the “new duties” of the credit union in terms of providing support for programmes designed to aid entrepreneurship.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>According to Lucas, if an enabling entrepreneurship is to be created state policies must be designed to make it easy for entrepreneurs to access public sector systems and laws enacted to help promote entrepreneurship. Additionally, he writes that “regulatory frameworks must be developed to facilitate access to critical information, incentives created to support entrepreneurial ventures and effective enforcement mechanisms must be established.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>And while government has tagged the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest) and the Small Business Bureau (SBB) as critical players in attracting both local and overseas private sector investment&nbsp;&nbsp; and supporting local small and medium-scale entrepreneurial ventures, respectively, Lucas opines that these alone are “not sufficient for entrepreneurship to grow.” The Ministries of Business, Trade, Communications, and our foreign missions, he says, “have particularly important roles to play in the development and sustenance of an entrepreneurship ecosystem.” And Lucas says that while the one-stop shop system which facilitates access to all government services has been the focus of government’s promotion of the country’s openness to foreign investment, what is seldom emphasized is “the importance of trust” to the smooth operations of this system. “Unfortunately, within our own society, this is a scarce commodity, Lucas adds.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In adding his voice to those that have already bemoaned the absence of supporting physical infrastructure for the creation of a convivial entrepreneurial ecosystem Professor Lucas alludes to the need for products created and ready for market to be supported by “effective logistics systems, reliable power supplies, and communications networks”. He says, “National resources must be devoted to creating an exceptional road and air transportation system, a reliable power grid, and a telecommunication system that is dependable. Products must be delivered on time to customers; delays in production due to power outages must be minimized; contacts between producers and customers must be reliable.” These support mechanisms, he says, are particularly important “within the context of business opportunities associated with the discovery and production of oil and gas. Entrepreneurship cannot thrive if these essential support systems are not dependable.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Part of an enabling support infrastructure for an entrepreneurial ecosystem, Lucas says is a stable environment in which prospective entrepreneurs can work in which context he is advocating the creation of “regionally clustered entrepreneurship parks” within which various services should be provided to enhance the prospective entrepreneur’s experience, with the nature of these parks varying from one region to another.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/business/03/02/ug-business-professor-wants-more-commercial-bank-backing-for-business-startups/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/business/03/02/ug-business-professor-wants-more-commercial-bank-backing-for-business-startups/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('event', 0, 559, 568, 'und', 0, '<p>Explore admissions&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://uog.edu.gy/admissions\">here</a>.</u>&nbsp;Make the most of the incredible opportunities available in pursuit of your UOG degree.&nbsp;</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 564, 573, 'und', 0, '<p>PUBLIC Management students of the University of Guyana (UG) have been engaged in the rehabilitation of community grounds and other facilities, as part of their Municipal and Regional Government course.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Donna McKinnon, Head of Department for Government and International Affairs and the lecturer for Local Municipal and Regional Government course, told the Guyana Chronicle on Friday that this is the first time she has decided to have her students engage in the practical aspect of the course.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>She explained that there are several groups of approximately 12 students each who are engaged in community projects across Regions Three and Four. “They have been given a project as part of their course assessment this year and so, in different communities, we have students who have chosen a project,” said the lecturer, who was at the time at the Shirley Field-Ridley Square, where a group of her students were busy rehabilitating that community’s playground.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>That playground has been in a state of disrepair since the early 2000s, residents said and since then, the children of the community have not been able to benefit from it. Though the projects are not funded by the University of Guyana, the students have reached out to civil society, the business community and residents for assistance. “The students have taken it upon themselves mostly to engage the community, fund- raise, approach sponsors for donations…and so that’s how they are being funded …not by the university, but through their own means of funding.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The project should be completed by the second week in April, McKinnon stated. She added that some of the students are working in North Ruimveldt, Plaisance, and Diamond in Region Four, as well as communities in Region Three. Further, the lecturer noted that several orphanages will benefit from the projects.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Local government should not just be theoretical – they are expected to go into the community and do these things…if we want to have them involved in the community, these things are necessary. These are ways they can start contributing to their communities,” she said. The students have received permission from the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&amp;CC) to execute their projects. Meanwhile, Sandra Barker, a resident of Shirley Field-Ridley Square, told the Guyana Chronicle that she is pleased that the students of the University of Guyana have chosen her community.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“I think it is a very good initiative and it should give impetus to the community to continue the good work… to maintain and sustain the effort, so that as the President said, we can have a real green space in Shirley Field-Ridley.” Barker, who started living in Shirley Field-Ridley Square in the 1990s, said the playground went into a state of disrepair in the early 2000s. “I guess the young people that grew up in the community with their parents a lot of them have migrated, and you have new persons coming in— this effort should motivate persons to really maintain it,” she stated.<br />\r\nLike Ms Barker, other residents are happy that the playground is being rehabilitated.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://guyanachronicle.com/2018/03/03/ug-public-management-students-maintain-shirley-field-ridley-playfield\">http://guyanachronicle.com/2018/03/03/ug-public-management-students-maintain-shirley-field-ridley-playfield</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html');
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('news', 0, 565, 574, 'und', 0, '<p>There is currently the need for a costing study to be done at the University of Guyana [UG]. Discussions in this regard were recently held at the level of the Academic Board and in the company of student leaders. This is according to UG Vice Chancellor, Professor Ivelaw Griffith, who shared this development on Thursday. Even as he emphasised the importance of costing, he underscored the need to know how much it would cost the university to produce a degree, for instance, in Civil Engineering or Mathematics. He disclosed that although currently the university offers 113 degree programmes, “we don’t have an empirical base for the decision.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>According to Professor Griffith, who was speaking at a ceremony to announce a grant from the Caribbean Development Bank [CDB] for the construction of a new library for the university, while the funding will help to provide critical infrastructure for the library, it will also help to do a variety of other things. Professor Griffith disclosed that he has shared his anxiety with the members of the Academic Board, of his desire to see the costing study be done in the coming year. This move is important since, according to him, “next year will end the third in a three-year cycle of tuition increases.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Next year we will need to begin to talk about what might be the increase beyond…I would like that conversation to be grounded in evidence. What it cost for a diploma, for a degree, for a Master’s Degree, for a PhD, and so I look forward to moving this process,” said the Vice Chancellor. Just recently the UG administration had cause to defend a decision to hike administrative fees, a move that the current UGSS body had fiercely condemned complete with threats to take legal recourse.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>But the administration, in a statement, underscored that the increase was imperative since apart from tuition and facilities fees, there are other expenses associated with studying at the university. “These are commonly called Administrative Fees, and they cover a wide range of services, including fees for processing applications for degree, diploma and certificate programmes [adjusted from $500 to $1000], and late applications [adjusted from $2,000 to $3,000], late registration [adjusted from $10,000 to $12,000], supplemental examinations [adjusted from $1,500 to $5,000]. “The cost of personal transcripts… [has moved from $3,000 to $5,000],” the administration outlined.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>It also noted that “some services that were entirely free, now attract a fee. Included here are the re-sit examinations, which now cost $6,000 and letters for students that are used for visa applications and other purposes; they now will attract a charge of $5,000.” But according to the administration, students will only be required to pay the fees if they access the associated services. It was noted that the new administrative fees will not affect all students. “Indeed, some fees do not affect current students; they affect graduates seeking transcripts and other services. A significant proportion of the requests for transcripts come from graduates residing abroad, and dispatching those transcripts carries additional costs,” the administration highlighted.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In defending its decision, the university sought to inform that administrative fees were last adjusted by the University about a decade ago. “A comparative analysis of administrative fees being paid at other local tertiary institutions reveals that the new UG fees are far from exorbitant. As adjustments to service fees are being made at the University of Guyana at this juncture, it must be underscored that over the past two years, students at the University have been witnessing numerous improvements that directly enhance their learning environment and educational experience,” the administration added.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Vice Chancellor Griffith had said, “While none of us wish to add to the costs of our students’ educational experiences, the practical reality is that running the university costs, and the government subvention does not – and cannot be expected to – cover all the costs.” Meanwhile, Professor Griffith noted that even beyond the proposed costing study, UG must also have in place a statement of economic value. “We need to know what the University of Guyana does for the nation. Every one of the little more than the 1,000 staff we have here, permanent and part time, pays taxes, buys, has mortgages…so there are economic multipliers, we need to be able to calculate what those impacts are,” Professor Griffith stated.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>As such he emphasised, “we are looking forward not only for the library to have a tangible manifestation of the CDB support, but for other things that can help us have the rational basis for establishing credibility in what we provide as a resource to the society and beyond the society.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 568, 577, 'und', 0, '<p>An GY$18 million innovative fund established by the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) will be pumped into the Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programme locally and the University of Guyana (UG).</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The announcement was made earlier Monday by the telephone giant during a press conference to promote its upcoming Innov8 Expo and Business forum to be held later this month.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>GTT’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Justin Nedd reported that of the earmarked amount, some GY$8M will go towards supporting strategic initiatives of STEM, while UG will be gifted GY$3M for its various programmes. Nedd’s vision is to be able to collaborate with businesses to pump at least GY$200M into the area of technology, annually.&nbsp; This will, especially, he stated, “afford children the opportunity of being part of a grand and ever-changing global experience.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Part of GTT’s Innov8 plan is to also provide free internet service to every primary school across Guyana. “Its about time our children are supported and given the tools that they need to push Guyana forward”, the CEO was quoted as saying by government’s Department of Public Information.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Nedd said Guyana is on to “something big” where technology is concerned and it is his belief that it is time that businesses and educators collaborate to move the country forward.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>UG’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Dr. Paloma Mohammed said that the contribution from GTT, will be used for a study conference slated for May, fund students attending a global innovative club in July, and a public conference.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>STEM Guyana’s Colin Sawh explained that the money will be used for a number of youth projects.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Innov8 business summit and expo will be held on March 24 and 25th. According to Nedd, the event will demonstrate what technology can do for Guyana and how the telephone company is supporting this technology. This event will be opened to the public with no cost attached.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>A special forum will be held on the 27th, for businesses and leaders in technology.</p>\r\n\r\n<div id=\"fb-root\">&nbsp;</div>\r\n<script>(function(d, s, id) {\r\n  var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\r\n  if (d.getElementById(id)) return;\r\n  js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;\r\n  js.src = \'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.12\';\r\n  fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\r\n}(document, \'script\', \'facebook-jssdk\'));</script>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"fb-video\" data-href=\"https://www.facebook.com/GTTGuyana/videos/10156041878408955/\" data-show-text=\"false\" data-width=\"500\">\r\n<blockquote cite=\"https://www.facebook.com/GTTGuyana/videos/10156041878408955/\" class=\"fb-xfbml-parse-ignore\">\r\n<p>Innov8 Summit Launch Press Conference</p>\r\nPosted by <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/GTTGuyana/\">GTT</a> on Monday, March 5, 2018</blockquote>\r\n</div>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from: <u><a href=\"http://demerarawaves.com/2018/03/05/gtts-18m-innov8-fund-to-aid-stem-guyana-university-of-guyana\">http://demerarawaves.com/2018/03/05/gtts-18m-innov8-fund-to-aid-stem-guyana-university-of-guyana/</a></u></p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n', '', 'full_html'),
('event', 0, 569, 578, 'und', 0, '<p>The Women in Aviation and the Faculty of Technology invite you to&nbsp;<em>a <strong>panel discussion on present and emerging trends in aviation</strong>. </em>This discussion will be held on <strong>Tuesday, March 6, 2018,&nbsp;at 17:00 h in the Education Lecture Theatre. </strong></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('event', 0, 571, 580, 'und', 0, '<p>All students of the University of Guyana are advised that the Annual Track &amp; Field Championships will be held on <strong><u>WEDNESDAY, March 14, 2018 at 10:00h at the Leonora Track &amp; Field Stadium</u></strong>.&nbsp; Athletes are asked to note that registration should be completed by NOON, FRIDAY, March 9, 2018.&nbsp; NO registration will be accommodated on the day of the Championship.<br />\r\n&nbsp;<br />\r\nTransportation will leave the <u><strong>Turkeyen Campus at 07:30h.</strong></u>&nbsp;</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('carousel_entry', 0, 572, 581, 'und', 0, '<p>Annual Track and Field Championships</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 574, 583, 'und', 0, '<p>“One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world”, was the quote of encouragement from the University of Guyana’s Vice-Chancellor, Ivelaw Griffith to the best performers at national examinations in the country, at Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited’s Power to Make A Difference Academic Achievement Awards last Wednesday.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The awardees were best performer at the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), Saskia Twahir; best performer at CSEC, Michael Bhopaul; best performer at CAPE, Shannon Woodroffe; best graduating students from the University of Guyana with a Bachelor’s Degree in the Faculty of Social Sciences, Elsie Harry and Diploma in Banking and Finance, Shania Annirood.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Among those in attendance at the ceremony at the Head Office on New Market Street were the Minister of Education, Nicolette Henry and Superintendent of Examinations of the Ministry of Education, Saudia Kadir.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In his address, Richard Sammy, the Managing Director of Republic Bank (Guyana) stated that the organization continues its tradition of supporting and rewarding excellence in education through its annual partnership with the Ministry of Education and the University of Guyana. The Bank’s social investment programme `Power To Make A Difference’ is an initiative to serve, honour, encourage and empower Guyana’s youth towards a life and future of excellence, he said. He further stated that the bank tracks the progress of the awardees and made special mention of this year’s CSEC Awardee, Michael Bhopaul who, five years ago received the award for his performance at the NGSA.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Griffith shared with the awardees a quote from the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, “One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.” Griffith then said “Nothing you have achieved so far you have done by yourself, as you celebrate your achievements, remember who your giants were because you have been standing on the shoulders of giants. Some of those giants may be parents, who never had a chance to go where you have gone like Queen’s College or the University of Guyana. Some of those giants may be your grandmother, grandfather, teachers, counselors, priests, pastors, pandits.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/stories/03/07/republic-bank-makes-annual-awards-to-high-achievers/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/stories/03/07/republic-bank-makes-annual-awards-to-high-achievers/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 575, 584, 'und', 0, '<p>“We had some realities that we needed to change and we must find ways to use this new reality adequately, safely and in our best interest.” This was the declaration by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Ivelaw Griffith as he gave remarks at the official opening of new offices and a study room at the University’s Turkeyen Campus.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>With the addition of new programmes within the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, there was a demand for the expansion of the building in order to create an environment more conducive to teaching and research.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The project which had been in the pipeline for a number of years, came to fruition under the current Dean of the faculty, Owen Bovell who noted that, “ The Vice-Chancellor and I worked together and we got an initiation of the process of the building, and we are grateful as a faculty for this new facility and we will take pride in it”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Also present at the ceremony was the Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Delma Nedd who pointed to the fact that the building’s purpose further assists her ministry.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“This enclosure has now created more space for agriculture, training research and conversation as we move towards agriculture research and education in Guyana,” Nedd remarked.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The PS also went on to say that due to the economy’s domination by natural resources and agriculture production; and in light of the fact that a national consultation on establishing a University of Guyana Institute of Food and Nutrition Security between Ministry of Agriculture and University of Guyana was recently convened, the work of the faculty is only just beginning.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Also present at the ceremony were lecturers of the Department of Agriculture and Forestry and President of University of Guyana Students Society.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The new extension which cost $30M houses five additional offices which would cater for eight more staff members, a sanitary block which also caters for the physically disabled, along with a study room, fire escape and a patio. The expansion was managed by a building committee which assessed the needs of students and staff in order to make the space comfortable and accessible.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://dpi.gov.gy/university-of-guyana-faculty-of-agriculture-and-forestry-gets-new-offices-and-study-room/\">http://dpi.gov.gy/university-of-guyana-faculty-of-agriculture-and-forestry-gets-new-offices-and-study-room/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 576, 585, 'und', 0, '<p>Major General (Rtd) Joe Singh has been appointed the University of Guyana’s new Pro-Chancellor, by a unanimous vote. The announcement was made at a press conference following the university’s first meeting of its new council yesterday. Singh, who had been on the list of the Chancellor’s nominees for the council, yesterday thanked it for placing confidence in him and stated his intention to work to forward the interests of the university. Last month, Minister of State Joseph Harmon announced the composition of the university’s new council, which would operate for three years with effect from February 22nd, 2018.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The council was appointed despite objections from the unions at the University of Guyana over the selection process.&nbsp;The university’s council now comprises Singh, Chancellor Nigel Harris, Vice Chancellor Ivelaw Griffith, Jacqueline Murray, Dr Paulette Bynoe, UGSS President Norwell Hinds, union representative Dr Jewel Thomas, Ministry of Education Permanent Secretary Vibert Welch, Representative of the Ministry of Finance Sonya Roopnauth, Vincent Alexander, a yet to be named nominee from the parliamentary opposition, Jasmin Harris, Patrick DeGroot, Mariam Andrews, Alison Butters-Grant, Ivor English, Timothy Jonas, Dr. Navindranauth Rambarran, Dr. Marissa Seepersaud, Myrna Bernard and Registrar Nigel Gravesande serving as secretary.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/stories/03/09/joe-singh-appointed-new-ug-pro-chancellor/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/stories/03/09/joe-singh-appointed-new-ug-pro-chancellor/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 577, 586, 'und', 0, '<p>A proposal to minimise “political intrusion” in the University of Guyana’s Council through a revision of the overarching legislation was brought to the newly-appointed body yesterday.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>At a press briefing following the council’s first business meeting since its appointment last month, Chancellor E Nigel Harris said that a report submitted by Professor Lawrence Carrington, who led a committee to revisit the governance of the university, was among the business discussed. Carrington is a former Vice-Chancellor of the university.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Harris noted that since the university’s establishment in 1963, the University of Guyana Act has not been revised.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Over the years of the University of Guyana, and&nbsp;this goes many, many, years, the council itself was politicised and indeed political biases, if you will, did not only appear in the council, but they did in other management decisions within the context of the university…,” Harris related, stating that they want to “do away with the whole question of representation of political parties” and other organisations. Harris said that there are other mechanisms for receiving input from the wider community.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“…What we want to do is to assemble people who have the abilities and skills that can contribute in very meaningful ways to the governance of the university in terms of oversight and strategic planning, in terms of its financial management, financial culpability, in terms of its policy making…you’re trying to get the best talents that can contribute to the rest of the organization rather than saying we designate political groups in order to represent, because that does not serve the University of Guyana,” Harris asserted.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“The intent is to reduce the vulnerability of the university’s operations to political intrusion into the management,” Vice-Chancellor Ivelaw Griffith later stated.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Other recommendations in the proposal, according to Harris, are for a reduction in the number of persons on the council; the reexamination of the roles of the Chancellor, Vice Chancellor and Pro-Chancellor; and a more accountable system that requires the university to make a report of its activities and finances.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Harris related that the aim is to create a more “efficient and effective entity” and he opined that in cases where there is trouble separating “oversight” from “management,” this usually works to the detriment of the university.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Asked about the extent to which government would be involved with the new proposed structure, Harris said that it is expected that there will be representation from the ministries of Education and Finance.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Griffith related that consultations will be taken to the wider university community before the final proposal goes to council. He also noted that there are other key players that would play a role, such as the Attorney General, whose expertise would be needed to assist with the formal drafting of the legislation.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“This is an important moment for the university, a moment of transformation and its essential that its governance—its Act, statutes—be modernised in keeping with what we hope is going to be a more modern and dynamic university,” said Harris.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Griffith stated that while there may not be unanimity in the decision, there was a “sense” at yesterday’s council meeting that “what is proposed takes us a far way ahead to building a genuine university….”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/stories/03/09/minimising-political-intrusion-among-proposals-for-reformed-ug-council/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/stories/03/09/minimising-political-intrusion-among-proposals-for-reformed-ug-council/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 578, 587, 'und', 0, '<p>MAJOR General (Ret’d) Joe Singh was elected pro-chancellor of the University of Guyana (UG) by the university’s council on Thursday. Singh replaced Bibi Shadick who had served in the position for a number of years. UG Chancellor, Professor Nigel Harris made the announcement during a press briefing on Thursday.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>A pro-chancellor is an officer of some universities in Commonwealth countries. The pro-chancellor also acts as a deputy to the chancellor and is practically the chairman of the university council. Singh said he is ready to work in the best interest of the team of managers and the university during his tenure. “I intend to do my utmost in the interest of the university by being a team player… it was indeed an honour to have been elected as pro-chancellor,” said Singh.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Singh in 1956 won a Government County Scholarship to Queen’s College where he completed his secondary education and after a short stint in the civil service, was among the first batch of Guyanese selected by the British Army in 1965 to attend an officer cadet training in the UK, in preparation for the establishment of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) of independent Guyana. He is a graduate of Mons Officer Cadet School, Aldershot (1966); the School of Infantry, Warminster (1970); the Army School of Education, Beaconsfield (1970); the Army Free Fall Parachute School, Netheravon (1970); the Army Staff College, Camberley (1977); and the Royal College of Defence Studies, Belgrave Square, UK (1995).</p>\r\n\r\n<p>His service as a commissioned officer spanned 34 years commencing as a Second Lieutenant on June 4, 1966; Lieutenant 1968; Captain 1970; Major 1972; Lieutenant Colonel 1975; Colonel 1979; Brigadier 1986; and Major General 1999. He is also a graduate of the University of Guyana (Public Administration), the UK Royal College of Defence Studies (Post Graduate – International Relations and Strategic Studies), and of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Greenwich University, UK (MSc in Tourism and Protected Landscape Management).</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://guyanachronicle.com/2018/03/09/joe-singh-is-new-ug-pro-chancellor\">http://guyanachronicle.com/2018/03/09/joe-singh-is-new-ug-pro-chancellor</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 579, 588, 'und', 0, '<p>THE University of Guyana Council has approved 10 acres of land to be used by the government to construct the Joseph Haynes Law School and Attorney General Basil Williams said that plans are well advanced to establish the facility.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, UG Vice Chancellor, Professor Ivelaw Griffith, said that the matter regarding the allocation of land for the JOF law school was dealt with at their recent council meeting and the decision was made to allocate 10 acres of land to move forward with the construction of the law school.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Asked about the financial arrangements for the use of the land, Professor Griffith said: “One of the realities of the university is by virtue, the gift that precludes us from renting or selling land. There will be no rent charged. Our expectations are that services would be funded by the host and services for maintenance would also be honoured by the host.”<br />\r\nHe added that the dynamics is between the AG and the governing body “so we cannot speak about the timeline for construction but the AG is anxious to get moving, but they have to wait on the organisers at that end as to when construction will begin”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Williams told the Guyana Chronicle that key stakeholders of the projects have already acquired a building plan and designs for the facility which is proposed to be 50,000 sq. ft with three floors. He said construction of the facility is estimated at US$6M. Williams had recently reassured that the school will be opened here.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The APNU+AFC coalition government in January last year announced the project. The project comes after some two decades of lobbying for an alternative to the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica, the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and Tobago and the Eugene Dupuch Law School in The Bahamas.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The JOF Haynes Law School is being established through a Public-Private Partnership between the Government of Guyana, the Law School of the Americas (LCA) and the University College of the Commonwealth (UCC) and will add to the existing options available to holders of a Bachelor of Laws (LLB), and who intend to pursue their Legal Education Certificate (LEC).</p>\r\n\r\n<p>A timeline of 2018 was set for establishment of the local institution and according to the attorney general, whether or not the time line is met, a local law school will be established. “It is a complex issue … we have to have a law school and whether people are putting up obstacles and so, the obstacles will have to be broken down,” Williams told reporters recently.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He explained that Guyanese students are faced with hefty sums they have to pay along with the small quota of students accepted into the Hugh Wooding Law School. These matters are of concern to his administration. Guyanese students have struggled with the system that allows them entry to the Hugh Wooding Law School and only late last year Williams was able to secure a collaborative agreement between the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Council for Legal Education (CLE) and UG, paving the way for the top 25 Guyanese law students to have automatic entry into the Hugh Wooding Law School.<br />\r\nBack in December last year Williams had said that he had written the Vice Chancellor of UG, Professor Ivelaw Griffith, for him to identify the land that Chancellor Desiree Bernard had in early 2001, 2002 identified. He said the decision was made then that the building on the University of Guyana (UG) Campus.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>At an earlier meeting Williams, along with the task force looking into the establishment of the Joseph Haynes Law School of the Americas, had met to examine the provisions in the Revised Business Plan of the University College of the Caribbean (UCC), one of the Jamaican Partners in the Public/Private Partnership intended to establish the law school.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The business plan was submitted pursuant to a MoU entered into between the University College of the Caribbean (UCC), Law College of the Americas (LCA) and the Government of Guyana (GoG), which contained a provision for a feasibility study to be done to determine the viability of establishing the law school.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://guyanachronicle.com/2018/03/09/ug-clears-10-acre-plot-for-law-school\">http://guyanachronicle.com/2018/03/09/ug-clears-10-acre-plot-for-law-school</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'full_html'),
('news', 0, 580, 589, 'und', 0, '<p>The Private Sector Commission (PSC) says it is extremely disappointed with regards to the appointment of the representative of business on the Council of the University of Guyana.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In a statement yesterday, the PSC said that on the 27/6/17 it was written to by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education requesting the nomination of a representative of the PSC and it nominated the executive head of the Consultative Association of Guyanese Industry (CAGI), the organisation which it consider to be the Private Sector authority on education and human development matters to sit on the new council.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>This has been the custom and practice for the last over 25 years, the PSC said. However, the government announced recently, that businesswoman Allison Butters-Grant would be representing the business community. It is unclear who nominated her but the PSC objection underlines those by others about interference by the government in the composing of the council. Butters-Grant has been seen to have formed a close relationship with the government.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Unions at the University of Guyana had also objected to the manner in which the council was being composed given efforts over many years by governments to control the council.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>It is important that the voice of the PSC which is the umbrella Pivate Sector organisation for business to be represented on the council, the PSC statement said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“We urge that those responsible correct this anomaly forthwith”, the statement added.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/stories/03/10/private-sector-objects-to-business-representative-on-ug-council/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/stories/03/10/private-sector-objects-to-business-representative-on-ug-council/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('event', 0, 581, 590, 'und', 0, '<p>Dr Sue Sentance is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science Education at King’s College London, UK, and&nbsp; responsible for the training of secondary school teachers in computer science at the university. Her areas of research are teacher professional development, computer science pedagogy and physical computing. In addition, she works closely with Computing At School (CAS), a subject association of teachers of Computing. She is a member of the CAS Board, and also oversees CAS London - which supports Computing teachers across London through teacher networks and peer-to-peer development of teacher expertise. She was also a member of the advisory group for the recent Royal Society Computing Education Report.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Please contact any of the following for more details:<br />\r\nLenandlar Singh (Local Project Lead, lenandlar.singh@uog.edu.gy)<br />\r\nPenelope DeFreitas (Head of Department of Computer Science, csi.head@uog.edu.gy)</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 582, 591, 'und', 0, '<p>After we had spoken with Visiting Professor at the University of Guyana’s School of Enterprise, Business and Innovation (SEBI), Professor Leyland Lucas, and his support staff early last week, we headed across to the new facility created to house the School.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Stabroek Business had been told in an interview, months earlier, with the University’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Ivelaw Griffith, that much of the focus of SEBI would be on building a stronger ‘real world’ connection between the University and the business community, the thrust of his argument being that it made little sense having a University that was not really going anywhere in terms of helping to provide the skills needed to drive what has long been referred to as ‘the engine of growth,’ the private sector.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We had benefitted, as well, from an thorough earlier briefing from the Vice Chancellor, at a session that had also included SEBI’s Head, Professor Lucas, on the origins and purpose of SEBI and particularly on the role that local entrepreneurs and the wider business community had played in the conceptualization of the institution and including arriving at a determination as to the particular role that it would play.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>An earlier attempt had been made to create just such a link between the University of Guyana and the business community under the Vice Chancellorship of Professor Lawrence Carrington. The reasons for its failure to get very far are unclear though there is really no persuasive evidence that the private sector was, at the time, keen on a long-term relationship with UG.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>SEBI is currently focused on the staging of its May 20-22 Inaugural Entrepreneurship Conference, its first excursion into the kind of public discourse that brings&nbsp; together the business and academic communities as much as the students which, hopefully, will throw up ideas that can be applied across a wide spectrum of challenges, not least, those that have to do with helping to address some of the broader economic challenges facing the country.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The School’s ‘Call For Papers’ for the May forum, shared with the Stabroek Business by its Director of Communications and Corporate Relations, Rennie Chester, provides clear insights into the agenda. Numbered amongst the issues listed for discourse amongst participants academics, business leaders, state-run institutions and students at the forum are entrepreneurship and economic development; women’s empowerment through entrepreneurship; entrepreneurship and the informal sector; the role of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in economic development.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Professor Lucas holds the view that the institution’s role in providing a curriculum in disciplines that would lead to a formal academic qualification should not be allowed to obscure its responsibility to provide the sort of practical tuition directly related to enhancing entrepreneurial capabilities in the business sector.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Across the way from Professor Lucas’ office a small group of students had been kept waiting in the SEBI building to engage us. Three of them symbolized what we had earlier been told were the real objectives of SEBI. Paul Warner, Sean Langevine and Amika Persaud have enrolled at SEBI in order to further refine their business acumen in preparation for the task of enhancing the roles they already play in businesses.&nbsp; Warner and Persaud are already involved in the management of family businesses, Warner in the beverages sector and Amika Persaud in the gold-mining industry. Sean Langevine is a manager with the popular Oasis Café though he appears to be busying himself to embark on an entrepreneurial pursuit of his own in the future.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We had met earlier with Tracey Alves and Cassandra Karran, two seemingly keen and energetic professionals who serve as Academic Advisors to SEBI and the School’s Administrative Officer, Tamika Profitt. Ms. Profitt’s job, Professor Lucas explained was to ensure a sense of administrative order. The role of the two academic advisors has to do with the intellectual welfare of the students. Meetings between prospective students and the academic advisors occur before students are enrolled, part of the purpose being to offer curriculum-related guidance and to help students respond to such challenges as they may encounter at the University.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We ended our visit on an upbeat note. There is evidence that (though still to a modest extent at this juncture) the public/private sector partnership that underpins SEBI is working. It showed, particularly in the energetic responses of the three students that we interviewed to questions relating to the nexus between their experiences at SEBI and their business ambitions. It appears to be a more than promising start.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/business/03/16/ug-school-of-business-upbeat-after-first-semester/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/business/03/16/ug-school-of-business-upbeat-after-first-semester/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('carousel_entry', 0, 585, 594, 'und', 0, '<p>Call for Research Proposals</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 586, 595, 'und', 0, '<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"mr-10\" src=\"/sites/default/files/images/uploads/large_lenandlar_singh.jpg\" style=\"float:left\" /></p>\r\n\r\n<p>The University of Guyana’s Department of Computer Science is laying the groundwork to shift away from teaching Information Technology to the teaching of computing from the primary school level with the aim of fostering innovation and creativity,&nbsp; a co-promoter of a week of activities said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Beyond Word and Excel, let’s make something, let’s learn some coding, let’s build something,” UG Lecturer in Computer Science, Lenandlar Singh said of the week of activities Under the theme “Advancing Computing Education in Guyana”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Eventually, he hopes that Guyana would be able to influence the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) to revise its syllabus. “If we make noise at the right level, we can influence CXC,” he said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"ml-10\" src=\"/sites/default/files/images/uploads/sue_sentance.jpg\" style=\"float:right\" /></p>\r\n\r\n<p>Dr. Sue Sentance of King’s College in Britain is expected in Guyana to facilitate a number of sessions with teachers, students and members of the public during March 18- 24 in Georgetown and Berbice. The teacher-educator and Doctor in Computer Science would be holding interactive sessions with teachers in Berbice at the John’s Campus of the University of Guyana on Tuesday, March 20 and on Wednesday 21 at UG’s Turkeyen Campus for teachers around Georgetown, East Coast Demerara, Cyril Potter College of Education and possibly a few from Lethem.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>On Thursday, there would be a half-day session at Bishops High School and another on Friday for students at Queen’s College.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>A public lecture is scheduled for next Thursday from 6 PM to 8PM at the Theatre Guild, Parade Street, Kingston and a public forum on “Gender in Computing”&nbsp; on Friday at 3 PM to 5 PM at UG’s Education Lecture Theatre. “There is a major gender issue,” the UG lecturer said, adding that there are issues related to security, harassment and lack of opportunities.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Singh emphasised the importance of training teachers modern techniques in computer education delivery from the primary level to help foster innovation among young people for a growth industry. “If you train your teachers well, we can build the Information society that we want. We need to change our curriculum to make it more relevant to be the creators of things rather than just being the users of things,” he added.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Singh said the Ministry of Public Telecommunications/ National Frequency Management Unit, Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company and the United Kingdom-based Farnell company would be teaming up to make the initiative a success.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The UG Lecturer said Farnell has donated to the Guyana initiative&nbsp;<a href=\"http://cpc.farnell.com/bbc-microbit\" style=\"padding: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: none; list-style: none; border: 0px none; color: rgb(0, 0, 255); text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out;\">20 BBC Microbits</a>–&nbsp;a pocket sized computing device that offers its young users a level of programming accessibility- and plans are on stream to acquire more. The devices would be used to demonstrate programming skills to teachers and students.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The long-term goals include revamping the school’s curriculum and the teaching of computer science firstly in the primary school instead of in secondary school.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Singh assured that Guyana is increasingly having the required Internet access and hardware such as easier access to computers at home, school laboratories and Information Communication Technology (ICT) hubs to help revolutionise the teaching-learning of computer education.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://demerarawaves.com/2018/03/18/ug-in-major-initiative-to-reform-teaching-learning-of-computer-science-in-schools/\">http://demerarawaves.com/2018/03/18/ug-in-major-initiative-to-reform-teaching-learning-of-computer-science-in-schools/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'full_html'),
('event', 0, 593, 602, 'und', 0, '<p>You are invited to&nbsp;<strong>Vice-Chancellor\'s 8th Renaissance&nbsp;Lecture,&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong><strong><em>\"Bridging the Divide in Tertiary Education between Developing and Developed Countries\"&nbsp;</em></strong>on April 4th, 2018 @18:00hrs</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('event', 0, 594, 603, 'und', 0, '<p>The University of Guyana Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Natural Sciences presents, \"Computing in School : The Fourth Science .\" A Discussion Forum Featuring Computing Education Researcher/ Teacher Educator and Project Co-promoter. Dr Sue Sentance.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Dr Sue Sentance is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science Education at King’s College London, UK, and&nbsp; responsible for the training of secondary school teachers in computer science at the university. Her areas of research are teacher professional development, computer science pedagogy and physical computing. In addition, she works closely with Computing At School (CAS), a subject association of teachers of Computing. She is a member of the CAS Board, and also oversees CAS London - which supports Computing teachers across London through teacher networks and peer-to-peer development of teacher expertise. She was also a member of the advisory group for the recent Royal Society Computing Education Report.</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 595, 604, 'und', 0, '<p>The University of Guyana extends words of condolence to Prof E. Nigel Harris and family on the occasion of the loss of author and theorist Sir Wilson Harris. These sentiments are expressed to Prof Harris, as well, in his capacity as Chancellor of the University, an institution long engaged in close association and kinship with Sir Wilson. Yet, this unfathomable loss will be further felt by the nation of Guyana where he was born, and the community of the Caribbean; the United Kingdom where he lived, the commonwealth of the wider world and the one family of all humanity. For those are not only rightful claimants of Harrisian literature, but are all kith and kin in the cross- cultural community as he saw it in the commanding breadth of his vision. No less did he articulate in the genius of his art, his imagination, his fiction, poetry and critical theory. In his parting, mankind is the poorer.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Theodore Wilson Harris (March 24, 1921 – March 8, 2018) was born in New Amsterdam, British Guiana, and lived in Georgetown until 1959 when he moved to England where he lived ever since. His marriage in 1945 to Cecily Carew, sister of another celebrated Guyanese writer Jan Carew, ended in divorce. On relocating to London, he was remarried to Margaret, native of Edinburgh, Scotland, with whom he lived for 50 years until her death in 2010. He is survived by the children of his first marriage – Eon Nigel, Chancellor of the University of Guyana and former Vice-Chancellor of the UWI; Denise, a novelist who won the Guyana Prize for First Book of fiction, 2002; Alexis and Michael.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Harris attended Queens College, then trained as a surveyor and spent several years on professional government expeditions throughout the vast and deep interior rainforests, savannahs and rivers of Guyana. These experiences as a scientist deepened his contact with the Amerindian people, their mythology, traditions and cosmic vision that led him to create a literature that made a profound impact on the wider world, guided by a vision that was at once post- colonial and universal. He stressed cross-culturalism, as opposed to multi-culturality, in which all peoples and cultures are one, but fractured and endangered by a history of conquest and colonisation through which mankind wore the masks of different antagonists in a sequential theatre of wars, genocide and materialist imperialism.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>These are over-riding themes of his 26 novels, short stories and the philosophical underpinnings of his literary and critical theories. But he started his writing career as a poet, contributing to the magazine Kyk-Over-Al between 1945 and 1951. The turning point in his career came after he published his poetry and a short play in Eternity to Season in 1954, and his relocation to England in 1959. Thereafter, he focused on fiction and had a meteoric rise in the literary world with his first ground-breaking novel, Palace of the Peacock (1960), published in London by Faber and Faber who so believed in the value and importance of his original and innovative contributions to literature that they continued to publish all of his novels. This included reprinting some of them, including the first four as The Guyana Quartet: Palace of the Peacock, along with The Far Journey of Oudin (1961) and The Whole Armour (1962), two outstanding examples of the Romance novel, and The Secret Ladder (1963), which drew on personal experiences as a government surveyor leading an expedition up the Canje River.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>A second group of novels was similarly reprinted together as The Carnival Trilogy (1993). These were Carnival (1985), The Infinite Rehearsal (1987) and The Four Banks of the River of Space (1990). A fourth work – Resurrection at Sorrow Hill (1993) may well be added to these to make a second quartet which extends his preoccupation with cross-cultural explorations, a concern for the rainforests, which are also a warning against the annihilation of mankind through the encounters of history. These are among his most experimental, post-modernist and post-colonial works.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Wilson Harris earned a reputation as a “difficult” writer whose work is inaccessible. Michael Gilkes described his narrative as “maverick”, while others called it “abstract and densely metaphorical”. However, the highest acclaim has been given to his originality and innovation in transforming the form of the modern novel. British writer and critic Kathleen Raine best expresses it as giving rebirth to and rescuing the English novel which “had remained static for 100 years”. Mark McWatt has expounded on the quality of Harris’ relationship with the Amazonian landscape, quoting his statement “the landscape is alive. It is a living text”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Moreover, he has been acclaimed for “the breadth of his vision”. The range of his fiction extends from deep explorations of the Amerindian psyche, myth, traditions in that series of novels between 1965 and 1971, through a continuing concern for the pre-Columbian invasions and exploitation of the Americas, but also for the complexities of culture and history. Not least among works which engage these is one of his novels set in other countries outside of a Guyanese base. Companions of the Day and Night (1972) is set in Mexico and draws from the ancient posada ritual and carnivalesque dramatisations of the passion of Christ, while Black Marsden (1975) is set in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Da Silva Da Silva’s Cultivated Wilderness plays out in London.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>These innovations in the form of fictive narration include his creation of the “fictional autobiography”, exemplified in The Infinite Rehearsal as well as his enlistment of science. Quantum physics, quantum theory and the mathematical theory of Chaos provided him with “quantum fiction” best exemplified in his best-selling novel, Jonestown (1996).</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Sir Wilson Harris has received extensive critical attention from his closest friends and scholars at the University of Warwick, Michael Mitchell and David Dabydeen, to further afield, especially Hena Maes Jelinek in Liege and at the University of Texas, inter alia. His honours and awards include The Guyana Prize for Literature, twice – 1987 for Carnival, and again, the Special Award 2002 for one of his several non-fiction works The Unfinished Genesis of the Imagination. He was more than once nominated for the Nobel Prize and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2010 “for service to literature”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Harris has visited and delivered lectures at the Turkeyen Campus; his work is studied in both undergraduate and post-graduate literature programmes. The University of Guyana Library has mounted an exhibition of his works along with a complete listing for public showing. All these links, the great honour and the importance of his art are eternally symbolised by the mural painted on the wall of the Faculty of Education and Humanities titled Palace of The Peacock: Homage to Wilson Harris.</p>\r\n\r\n<p class=\"rtecenter\">###</p>\r\n\r\n<h4>UG IN BRIEF</h4>\r\n\r\n<p>With a current enrollment of some 8,000 students, The University of Guyana (UG) has graduated more than 20,000 students who have gone on to successful careers locally, regionally and internationally. The University is also a major contributor to the national economy and to business and industry. Established in 1963 on a part-time basis with shared space at Queens College, UG moved to its own campus at Turkeyen in 1970 and expanded in 2000 with the addition of the Tain Campus. It now offers more than 60 Under-graduate and Post-graduate Programmes including Engineering, Environmental Studies, Forestry, Urban Planning and Management, Business, Entrepreneurship, Tourism Studies, Education, Creative Arts, Economics, Law, Medicine, Optometry and Nursing. Several online programmes are available and UG also offers extra-mural classes at four locations through its Institute of Distance and Continuing Education (IDCE). The UG also offers the opportunity for student engagement in debating, sports, and cultural, religious and professional activities.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Public Relations Division<br />\r\nMarch 20, 2018</p>', '', 'filtered_html');
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('news', 0, 596, 605, 'und', 0, '<div>\r\n<div>\r\n<div>\r\n<p>The team that is studying the feasibility of the establishment of an Institute of Food and Nutrition Security (IFANS) at The University of Guyana (UG) is preparing for a key next phase of its work, which is, visits to model food security entities abroad in forthcoming weeks. At the top of the list is the Center for Food Security and Entrepreneurship at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill, headed by distinguished scientist Professor Leonard O’Garro, who is co-chair of the UG feasibility team.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The team was appointed earlier this year by Vice-Chancellor Professor Ivelaw Griffith following a national stakeholders consultation held last November, at which Minister of Agriculture Noel Holder delivered the keynote address and which involved officials from the Ministries of Agriculture, Public Health and Education, the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Inter-American Institute of Cooperation for Agriculture (IICA), the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), and university officials.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The FAO, whose Representative in Guyana, Mr Reuben Robertson, is a member of the feasibility team, has provided UG with a US$50,000 grant to support the team’s work. The 35-member, broad-based team is co-chaired by Vincentian-born Professor O’Garro, Founding Director of the Center for Food Security and Entrepreneurship at UWI in Barbados, and Guyanese-born distinguished food scientist Professor Verian Thomas of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee, Florida.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The team’s inaugural meeting was a two-day exercise on January 25 and 26, 2018. On the first day members of the team held Look, Listen, and Learn sessions at Global Seafood Distributors, GSA, NAREI, Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA), and the Satyadeow Sawh Aquaculture Station. On the second day, the full team met at the Turkeyen Campus to begin work on goals, the design of the Institute, and a timeline for action, among other things. In attendance were representatives from the Edward Beharry Group of Companies, the Ministries of Public Health, Agriculture, Communities, and Education, FAO, IICA, Demerara Distillers Ltd, GLDA, and UG.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Vice-Chancellor Griffith wrapped up the day’s proceedings with a charge to team members to remain engaged with the process, inform colleagues at their institutions and to help garner public support for the initiative. He also encouraged them to seek to leverage resources to aid the work of the feasibility team and of the Institute when it is formally established. The team undertook to present a first draft report to the Vice-Chancellor by the end of June, after which there will stakeholder consultations in various parts of the country to discuss the report before it is finalised. Also, on February 28 Vice Chancellor Griffith and members of the feasibility team updated Minister Holder on the team’s work.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>According to Vice-Chancellor Griffith, “the advent of oil and gas makes it even more important that we do not forget the essence of what we are—an agricultural nation, with wonderful potential to satisfy national and regional food and nutrition needs. I trust our nation will use some of the soon-to-be available oil and gas bounty to invest intentionally in agriculture and education.” He added, “It would be great to launch the Institute on this year’s World Food Day, in October.”</p>\r\n\r\n<div>\r\n<div>\r\n<div>\r\n<h4>UG IN BRIEF</h4>\r\n\r\n<p>With a current enrollment of some 8,000 students, The University of Guyana (UG) has graduated more than 20,000 students who have gone on to successful careers locally, regionally and internationally. The University is also a major contributor to the national economy and to business and industry. Established in 1963 on a part-time basis with shared space at Queens College, UG moved to its own campus at Turkeyen in 1970 and expanded in 2000 with the addition of the Tain Campus. It now offers more than 60 Under-graduate and Post-graduate Programmes including Engineering, Environmental Studies, Forestry, Urban Planning and Management, Business, Entrepreneurship, Tourism Studies, Education, Creative Arts, Economics, Law, Medicine, Optometry and Nursing. Several online programmes are available and UG also offers extra-mural classes at four locations through its Institute of Distance and Continuing Education (IDCE). The UG also offers the opportunity for student engagement in debating, sports, and cultural, religious and professional activities.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Public Relations Division<br />\r\nMarch 20, 2018</p>\r\n</div>\r\n</div>\r\n</div>\r\n</div>\r\n</div>\r\n</div>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 597, 606, 'und', 0, '<h4>By Dr Leyland M. Lucas</h4>\r\n\r\n<div>\r\n<p>In the late 1990s, Guyana signed an Oil and Gas exploration agreement with Exxon’s subsidiary, EEPGL. That agreement not only permitted significant activity by Exxon, but also provided Guyana with a small subsumed royalty of no more than 1%. The agreement was also in clear contravention of Guyana’s laws, which stipulated the number of blocks that could be offered to a single entity. Though there were clear violations in law, Guyana has chosen to honour that obligation rather than raise it in other forums or attempt to invalidate it. As a nation, our word has been our bond.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Fast forward to our current situation where we find much being discussed regarding the current contract, and whether or not the nation’s best interests have been considered. In fact, in the past few months, we have been privy to an ongoing debate around the contracts signed by the Government of Guyana and Exxon. This debate has gotten so intense that some have even questioned the integrity and negotiating ability of governments in other developing countries, where the exploration of oil and gas is ongoing. Yes, in the case of Guyana, there is a great deal of evidence to suggest that better could have been done. But, who are we to question the outcome, when we were absent from the process? As my grandmother would often say when a family member chose to criticize others ‘make sure that your house is clean before telling someone else that theirs is dirty.’</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In an earlier article on local content, I made the point that oil is no longer a critical commodity. There is an abundance of oil in the global market, prices are highly volatile, and the world has begun a gradual process of shifting from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy. These are realities that cannot be ignored. For example, within our hemisphere, we see significant declines in oil and gas production, yet very little evidence of a major impact in the global marketplace. Likewise, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a major oil producer with one-fifths of the world’s reserves, has also begun the process of delinking its economy from oil-dependency and looking for newer ways to stimulate growth and development. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has determined that, given the volatile prices, oil revenue can no longer be the foundation of economic development. Instead, the Kingdom has shifted towards renewable energy sources and undertaken significant activities towards transforming the foundation upon which the future economy will stand.&nbsp; Guyana, as a country, has also committed itself to a policy of sustainable development and, in so doing, must balance issues of production and protection. Afterall, we exist in a very fragile ecosystem.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Having made these observations, I’d like to proceed with a small contribution to this debate. As one of my former bosses, Mr. Clarence Ellis, would say ‘no matter what the situation, if you are seen to be truthful, reliable, and honest in your dealings, people will work with you.’ Therefore, my contribution to this debate for the most part will center on the words reputation and position. These words should be at the heart of any conversation about contracts and the subject of renegotiation. I hope that the importance of these words will be reflected and help to either advance or bring some closure to the debate.</p>\r\n\r\n<h4>The Oil Contract</h4>\r\n\r\n<p>To some extent, what we are dealing with here is a Prisoner’s Dilemma. In a simple tit-for-tat version, players attempt to match/better one another’s moves, with the hope that the victor will emerge with the Lion’s share. However, research has shown that such strategies seldom succeed.&nbsp; Eventually, parties come to recognize that continuous moves and countermoves are less productive, and that mutual cooperation works best. In essence, let’s find a middle ground rather than try to be the ultimate winner. This is an important point in the ongoing debate around the Exxon contract, because continuous negotiations and renegotiations will yield no fruitful results. Hence, the situation becomes one of finding an acceptable position of compromise, from which both parties can gain some benefit and continue to operate with mutual respect.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>As we focus on the current contract, one cannot ignore the fact that a contract previously existed. How do we renegotiate this contract? Within a Prisoner’s Dilemma framework, moves and countermoves will only make sense if one party has something that is vital to the other and can force the latter to respond to the actions of the former. In this case, we have a product that the world wants but does not need. Any moves by our negotiators could be easily ignored. Consequently, it makes no sense to engage in efforts to renegotiate a contract from a position of weakness.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Moves and countermoves also influence one’s position. Subsequent moves by a party only makes sense if this is being done from a position of relative strength. Hence, I pose the question ‘What is our strength?’ The simple answer to this question is nothing. We do not own the wells, we do not have the skills necessary to exploit them, and we do not have the technology to provide the value-added products. In fact, truth be told, at this stage we are struggling to meet Local Content requirements. One cannot renegotiate a contract from a position of future possibilities, but must do so within the current context. So, any conversations of renegotiation will take place from a position of weakness rather than one of strength.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>This brings us to the issue of reputation. What does it say about a country that signs an agreement and then seeks to change it? Over time, governments and countries develop reputations as either reliable or unreliable bargaining partners. Each reputation comes with costs and benefits. If Guyana develops a reputation for being an unreliable partner, then all options for future development are lost. As a nation and as a government, we must realize that our word is our bond. If we cannot be relied upon to honour our obligations, then there is no place in the world of nations for us.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Recently, some have suggested to me that we can do this on our own. As I listened to these suggestions, I sensed subtle tones of nationalism and nationalization. While such suggestions are laudable, one must admit ‘that boat has sailed.’ Guyana and the rest of the developing world are full of examples of the consequences of nationalization, in the absence of an appropriate skill set. While it served its political purpose, the benefits of so doing left much to be desired. Oil, like sugar and bauxite, are primary products with volatile prices and much of the value-added downstream.</p>\r\n\r\n<h4>Product Quality</h4>\r\n\r\n<p>One of the issues that has been raised in this oil contract debate surrounds the product quality. Yes, there is a great deal of literature that suggests the crude is of an exceptionally high quality. Like an exceptionally well-tailored suit, superior quality commands a high price, provided that a market exists. Hence, one must ask the question ‘can quality command a high price in a saturated market?’ The simple answer to this question is no. As we know, primary product prices fluctuate quite significantly. So, a high price today might hit rock bottom tomorrow. For those of us old enough to recall, Guyana sold its sugar at a high price on the world market in the 1970s rather than honour its obligations to existing contracts. Not too long after, the bottom fell out of the world market. As a nation, we were profitable in the short-term, but suffered in the long-term, particularly with respect to our reputation.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Moreover, the wells are not owned by the Government of Guyana. They are owned by Exxon and its partners. How do we exact additional tribute from these companies simply because we have a product of exceptional quality, when the owner opts to not sell it? Guyana cannot force Exxon and its partners to pay a higher premium when they can choose to not pump oil and gas from the wells. Not doing so provides the government and people of Guyana with zero revenue. Hence the need to be cautious in one’s approach to renegotiating of contracts.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Placing this issue of quality into the Prisoner’s Dilemma framework, how do two players arrive at a mutually beneficial position, when one player ceases to participate? More specifically, how does one arrive at mutually beneficial positions when the dominant player withdraws? The fact is, under these circumstances, the game ends and there are no winners. It’s like that childhood experience where the owner of the ball runs home with it because he is unhappy with some decision. What we have left is a group of disgruntled children who grumble and look for something else to do. Unfortunately, Guyana has very few options and even fewer resources that can be summoned into action.</p>\r\n\r\n<h4>Front-Loading</h4>\r\n\r\n<p>An interesting argument has recently been raised that Guyana would be better off receiving a sizeable up-front bonus, rather than waiting for later disbursements through royalties. While those numbers vary from the well-reasoned to the pie-in-the-sky estimates, one needs to look at the domestic reality. We are a nation with various needs from education to infrastructure. To address those needs, we will require a significant influx of financial resources. However, if that influx is not regulated, it will cause significant inflationary pressures. Such pressures will further damage the economy and leads to a significant decline in living standards. With a massive influx of cash, one does not speedily correct the errors of the previous decades. Engineers, scientists, agricultural experts, and doctors are not created overnight. It takes years of training to acquire these skills. If the nation is to acquire these skills, then it must be done over time. Let’s not forget that we are dealing with a product whose price is highly volatile. Where will the resources come from when an engineer needs specialized training in 5 years, but the bottom has fallen out of the oil sector? Yes, this may happen anyway. But, at least we would not recreate the conditions for another massive brain drain, as was experienced in the 1980s when resources for scholarship recipients were scarce.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Let me use a simple example to further elaborate on this point. Think of someone in the desert with no food or water for an extended period of time. He/she is rescued and immediately placed in front of a large quantity of food and drink. If that person consumes everything without control, then he/she dies. How-ever, if he/she consumes in moderation, until the body is once more accustomed to consuming solids etc, then there is a greater likelihood of survival. The point I am making here is that a massive unregulated inflow of cash through a significant bonus may entice policymakers to undertake massive investment projects, which the economy cannot embrace with its limited skills inventory. Instead, a gradual inflow and expenditure might prove more beneficial to the nation in the long-run. So, while front-loading of contracts and securing large bonuses might be politically popular, it may prove to be economically disastrous.</p>\r\n\r\n<h4>Book Value</h4>\r\n\r\n<p>In some circles, it has been suggested that Guyana deserves a larger bonus because of its contribution to Exxon’s bottom line. At least one commentator has made the point that, since the discovery of oil and gas deposits off the shores of Guyana, Exxon’s book value has increased significantly. In my humble opinion, to use book value as a basis for renegotiating a contract is not a sound position. Book values change on a daily basis. In fact, Exxon’s stock price like so many others in the market has been on a rollercoaster ride. One year ago, its common stock price was $82.83; today, it is $76.27; last month, the stock price reached a high of $89.07. Which stock price should we use as the basis for asserting book value and renegotiating this contract? Should both parties make offers and counteroffers? Following a pattern within a Prisoner’s Dilemma game, such uncertainty cannot be tolerated. Instead of embracing such uncertainty, both players will be forced to arrive at a mutually beneficial point. Moreover, how reliable a negotiating partner is a government when its position appears to change with every market fluctuation? Clearly, other nations and firms will not take us seriously, since stability is essential to the capitalist system of trade and exchange.</p>\r\n\r\n<h4>Geopolitics</h4>\r\n\r\n<p>Over the past decade, commentators have noted a change in global relations. That change has seen a decline in nation states and the rise of the corporate state. That corporate state takes the form of transnational corporations, which have been able to influence global politics through their actions. For instance, in the US, we see massive amounts of money being poured into political campaigns by individuals and companies such as the Koch Brothers, George Soros, and the professionals on K Street. Why is this important within the Guyana context? The emergence of corporate states is important because they have the ability to alter things within a nation and change the balance of power. As stated by former British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston, and later expressed by Henry Kissinger, ‘friends and enemies are not permanent, but interests are.’ In this case, the interests are Oil and Gas.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Understanding the permanence of interests is important within the context we are examining. Although there may seem to be a disagreement between Venezuela and the US, any perceived reluctance on our part to abide by negotiated agreements could significantly alter the regional balance. If Exxon or any other transnational deems it favourable to reengage with the Venezuelan government, then they will do so. A reliable bargaining partner is always better than an unreliable one. Who then will take up the mantle on our behalf if Venezuela flexes its military might against us? Are we to expect support from the US administration when we have acted against the interests of an American corporate giant? I think that an examination of history would reveal that the answers to these questions are not favorable.</p>\r\n\r\n<h4>Conclusions</h4>\r\n\r\n<p>Oil and gas have been found and they have the potential to offer a great deal of wealth to our beloved Guyana, if appropriately managed. This is already reflected in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reports suggesting a change in our economic classification. Although we may argue about the royalty and signing bonus, it is merely an exercise in futility. We are in a Prisoner’s Dilemma, having originally negotiated a very bad deal. As a bargaining partner, one does not change the rules of the game unless one comes from a position of strength. Unfortunately, such strength does not exist in our case. We have a product that the world wants, but does not need; We lack the skills base and infrastructure to pursue this venture on our own; There is a global shift away from oil and gas towards renewable and sustainable sources of energy. As such, we are approaching all such negotiations from a position of relative weakness rather than strength.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>As a nation, there is an expectation that we will honor our word. Our word is our bond and, as such, we must strive to establish and maintain a good reputation. Even within a Prisoner’s Dilemma framework, some reliability is expected. If a move is made, that player is expected to honour the consequences of that move, rather than default. When countries default on their obligations, their ability to reengage with other parties is seriously hampered. Particularly as a small and young country, we must strive to uphold a positive reputation, irrespective of the consequences. Good reputations are hard to come by, can be easily lost, and extremely difficult to regain. Let us focus on playing the hand we have been dealt, rather than continually questioning its validity. Maybe, for future generations, there is a lesson to be drawn from this experience. A nation should always focus on establishing high educational standards and building its skills base, lest it be found wanting.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/business/03/23/the-oil-contract-debate/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/business/03/23/the-oil-contract-debate/</a></u></p>\r\n</div>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 598, 607, 'und', 0, '<p>“While the front-loading of contracts and the securing of large contracts might be politically popular it might prove to be economically disastrous, University of Guyana Business Professor Leyland Lucas has said in an article that seeks, in part, to respond to the popular argument touting the virtue of so-called front-loading, that is, the drawing down of significant cash amounts of as yet unearned income from the oil and gas industry.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Lucas, who is serving as Visiting Professor at UG’s School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation (SEBI) says in his article that there could be pitfalls associated with the popular “up-front” or front-loading argument that has been steadily gaining traction among ordinary Guyanese.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>While alluding to what he says is “an interesting argument to the effect that Guyana would be better off “receiving a sizeable bonus rather than waiting for later disbursements through royalties”, Professor Lucas argues that such an option is not without its potential dangers and pitfalls. He argues that while the “numbers”&nbsp; being touted in the front-loading argument “vary from the well-reasoned to the pie-in-the-sky estimates,” there is need to examine the domestic realities.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“We are a nation with various needs from education to infrastructure. To address those needs we will require a significant influx of financial resources…..however, if that influx is not regulated it will cause inflationary pressures” which pressures, he argues, will not only precipitate “massive inflationary pressures” that are likely to further damage the country’s economy but lead to a further decline in living standards.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Whilst the announcement by Exxon Mobil of the discovery of oil, offshore Guyana, just under three years ago has triggered expectations of a swift and miraculous economic transformation amongst the uninitiated Lucas cautioned that a massive influx of cash does not speedily correct the errors of previous decades. “Engineers, scientists, agricultural experts and doctors are not created overnight. It takes years of training to acquire these skills. If the nation is to acquire these skills then it must be done over time.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>An alluding to the volatility of the global oil market, Professor Lucas raised the question as to where the resources will come from “when an engineer needs specialized training in five years but the bottom has fallen out of the oil sector.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>And in concluding his position on front-loading Professor Lucas contended that “a massive unregulated inflow of cash through a significant bonus may entice policy makers to undertake massive investment projects which the economy cannot embrace with its limited skills inventory. Instead, a gradual inflow of expenditure might prove more beneficial to the nation in the long run.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In his article the Guyanese academic also weighs in on the subject of the controversy that has arisen over the Exxon Mobil contract including the call in some quarters for a re-negotiation of the agreement.&nbsp; Lucas argues that the controversy associated with the current contract cannot ignore the fact that a contract previously existed. How do we renegotiate this contract?…Moves and counter-moves will only make sense if one party has something that is vital to the other and can force the latter to respond to the actions of the former. In this case we have a product that the world wants but does not need. Any moves by our negotiators can be easily ignored. Consequently, it makes no sense to renegotiate a contract from a position of weakness…We do not own the wells, we do not have the skills necessary to exploit them and we do not have the technology to provide the value-added products. In fact, truth be told, at this stage we are struggling to meet Local Content requirements. One cannot renegotiate a contract from a position of future possibilities, but must do so within the current context. So any conversations of renegotiation will take place from a position of weakness rather than one of strength,” Lucas declared.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/business/03/23/head-of-ugs-school-of-business-not-sanguine-about-up-front-cash-from-oil-and-gas-industry/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/business/03/23/head-of-ugs-school-of-business-not-sanguine-about-up-front-cash-from-oil-and-gas-industry/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('event', 0, 599, 608, 'und', 0, '<p><strong>SAVE THE DATE! 3rd Conversation on Law and Society</strong> by<strong> His Honour Justice Carl A Singh</strong>&nbsp;on (<em>The Constitutional Guarantee&nbsp;of the </em><em>Fundamental&nbsp;Rights and the Citizen</em>) on Wednesday April 11th, 2018 at Herdmanston Lodge, Queenstown.</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('carousel_entry', 0, 601, 610, 'und', 0, '3rd International Arbitration Conference from April 23-28th 2018\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 603, 612, 'und', 0, '<h4>- Dean of UG Business School</h4>\r\n\r\n<p>Even as the local co-operative movement seeks to recover from its decades of doldrums, not least its countless failed and abortive excursions into start-stop business ventures that have left groups across the country in a condition of acute disappointment, a University of Guyana business Professor insists that there is a way back for the sector.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Dean of the School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation at the University of Guyana Dr. Leyland Lucas says that co-operatives and credit unions can be important tools in the pursuit of efforts to create a more robust entrepreneurial ecosystem in Guyana.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In an article scheduled for publication in The Guyana Review in April, Professor Lucas asserts that credit unions in their role as “guardians of significant financial assets” must begin to “see themselves as enablers of economic activity rather than guardians of savings,” a posture which he says, “changes their standing in the national economy.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The observation is likely to resonate with many credit union members across the country who have, for years, challenged the&nbsp; imbalance between the considerable liquidity of some of the country’s larger credit unions and their inability over the years to utilize the financial power to exert greater leverage on the country’s economy. When Stabroek Business put Professor Lucas’ perspective to a board member of one of the country’s largest credit unions the respondent replied that the decisions made by credit unions in the matter of the disbursement of their finances “is usually in the hands of the membership”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>But Lucas insists that “with enlightened management and not much risk” credit unions can play a pivotal role in helping to develop entrepreneurs and a new group of wealth generators. He offered as an example a retiring member of the security forces whom he said may be able to use support from the associated credit union to embark on a new post-retirement venture. According to Lucas “within the last five years we have seen institutions such as the US military establish programmes with universities to offer accelerated training in the basics of entrepreneurship.” Lucas says he believes that similar training can be undertaken by credit unions in Guyana to spur the growth of entrepreneurship among current and retiring members of the disciplined forces here.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Lucas contends that such initiatives by credit unions require both financial resources and a strong support system, “one that not only helps to educate the borrower/member of the challenges of entrepreneurship but provides the support mechanisms that will help to sustain them in challenging times.” Additionally, he says that the effective implementation of such measures also requires “personnel with the necessary knowledge to effectively perform these new duties and support programmes to aid entrepreneurship development.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Meanwhile, Lucas says that like credit unions, cooperatives can also play a vital role in the entrepreneurship ecosystem, “one that not only helps to educate the borrower/member of the challenges of entrepreneurship but provides the support mechanisms to aid entrepreneurship development………Whether these are agricultural cooperatives intended to engage in value-added production, technological development or some other form of economic activity, they can play a vital role in sustaining the entrepreneurial ecosystem,” Lucas adds,</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Meanwhile, Lucas says in his article that co-operatives can also contribute to the growth of the entrepreneurial system. Co-operatives, he says, “”can serve as the foundation for the revitalization of the village economies……..whether these be agricultural co-operatives intended to engage in value-added production, technological development, or some other form of economic activity. By combining their resources and members’ interests they provide a reinforcing mechanism whereby commitment to future success can be demonstrated,” Lucas adds.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>And according to the UG Professor co-operatives can also serve as a safety net for new ventures. “The fact that benefits within co-operatives extend beyond economic rewards to include social and psychological benefits allow for a broader definition of entrepreneurial success to be embraced.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/business/03/30/co-operative-movement-needs-enlightened-management/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/business/03/30/co-operative-movement-needs-enlightened-management/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 605, 614, 'und', 0, '<p><strong>DPI, GUYANA, Tuesday, April 3, 2018</strong></p>\r\n\r\n<p>Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana (UG), Professor Ivelaw Griffith has urged that Guyanese not lose sight of the important role agriculture continues to play, even as the oil and gas sector comes to the fore.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He made the comment recently while indicating the university’s plan to inaugurate a pilot Institute of Food and Nutrition and Security.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The University of Guyana has organised a feasibility team to seek out the possibility of establishing the institute and has already received a US$50,000 grant from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to aid the initiative.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The team includes a Guyanese Chemist and Vincentian Biochemist. According to Professor Griffith, the University is hoping to be able to inaugurate the Institute on World Food day, in October of this year.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Vice-Chancellor said the University is continuing its investment in the Agriculture sector since it sees it as relevant and will continue to be even after oil is gone. “We have to be true to ourselves and remember that we are at heart an agricultural nation and so we cannot let the excitement about oil deflect us from the attention to Agriculture.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>While the university is also preparing to meet the oil and gas sector, the professor said, it is paying equal attention to agriculture.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“We need to do better at agriculture and forestry and while oil is important, agriculture is just as important. Not just for Guyana, but for the capabilities that we have for the Caribbean and some parts of South America…We are looking to not only lift our boats on oil and gas but on agriculture as well,” the Vice-Chancellor said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://dpi.gov.gy/dont-lose-sight-of-agriculture-ug-vice-chancellor/\">http://dpi.gov.gy/dont-lose-sight-of-agriculture-ug-vice-chancellor/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 606, 615, 'und', 0, '<p>The University of Guyana is looking to implement paid parking, Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor, Ivelaw Griffith said today, He was at the time addressing the opening of the University’s exhibition in observance of Occupation Safety &amp; Health month. During a subsequent interview with the News Room, the Vice Chancellor explained that the population at the campus has outgrown the space. “It’s a challenge that we have neglected to manage as the University grew without the commensurate growth of parking, without commensurate growth of classroom space. Over the last two years, I’ve been pushing to enhance the facilities,” he said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Professor Griffith said a public-private partnership is being considered to construct an elevated parking for which persons will be required to pay in order to settle the expense.&nbsp; “Parking is one those things if you try to come here after 4 O’ Clock any afternoon or on Saturdays –so it will be how can we help alleviate that. We’re going to need to move up and we’re going to need to do that on the basis of a public-private partnership which means to recover the money, you have to get that investment for the construction and maintenance,” the Vice-Chancellor explained.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Vice-Chancellor said consideration is also being given to expanding the University campus and areas on the East Coast and East Bank of Demerara are being looked at in partnership with the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission. This is important he said as the University continues to increase its programmes to cater for the developing oil and gas industry. The Turkeyen campus approximately has 51 buildings currently.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://newsroom.gy/2018/04/03/ug-mulls-paid-elevated-parking/\">https://newsroom.gy/2018/04/03/ug-mulls-paid-elevated-parking/</a></u></p>\r\n\r\n<div>&nbsp;</div>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('event', 0, 607, 616, 'und', 0, '<p>The Tenth Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith and the Office for Undergraduate Research request your presence at the Second Annual Undergraduate Research Conferences. The conferences will be held in the period April 11 - 13, 2018 at the Turkeyen and Tain campuses.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>Theme:</strong> <strong><em>Celebrating the Power and Potential of Undergraduate Research</em></strong>.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>The conferences open to the public</strong> and will include three events and two Keynote addresses.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>Events:</strong></p>\r\n\r\n<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\">\r\n	<tbody>\r\n		<tr>\r\n			<td>\r\n			<p><strong>Date and Time</strong></p>\r\n			</td>\r\n			<td>\r\n			<p><strong>Event</strong></p>\r\n			</td>\r\n			<td>\r\n			<p><strong>Venue</strong></p>\r\n			</td>\r\n		</tr>\r\n		<tr>\r\n			<td>\r\n			<p>April 11, 2018 (08:30 – 12:30)</p>\r\n			</td>\r\n			<td>\r\n			<p>Faculty Panel on Undergraduate Research Experience at the University of Guyana</p>\r\n			</td>\r\n			<td>\r\n			<p>Education Lecture Theatre</p>\r\n			</td>\r\n		</tr>\r\n		<tr>\r\n			<td>\r\n			<p>April 12, 2018 (08:30 – 17:00)</p>\r\n			</td>\r\n			<td>\r\n			<p>Undergraduate Research Presentations at Turkeyen</p>\r\n			</td>\r\n			<td>\r\n			<p>Education Lecture Theatre and SEBI building</p>\r\n			</td>\r\n		</tr>\r\n		<tr>\r\n			<td>\r\n			<p>April 13, 2018 (08:30 – 17:00)</p>\r\n			</td>\r\n			<td>\r\n			<p>Undergraduate Research Presentations at Tain (Berbice)</p>\r\n			</td>\r\n			<td>\r\n			<p>Auditorium</p>\r\n			</td>\r\n		</tr>\r\n	</tbody>\r\n</table>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>Keynote addresses</strong>:</p>\r\n\r\n<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\">\r\n	<tbody>\r\n		<tr>\r\n			<td>\r\n			<p><strong>Turkeyen Keynote</strong></p>\r\n			</td>\r\n			<td>\r\n			<p><strong>Tain Keynote</strong></p>\r\n			</td>\r\n		</tr>\r\n		<tr>\r\n			<td>\r\n			<p>Professor Maya Trotz</p>\r\n\r\n			<p>Civil and Environmental Engineering Department</p>\r\n\r\n			<p>University of South Florida</p>\r\n			</td>\r\n			<td>\r\n			<p>Dr. Bibi Areefa Alladin</p>\r\n\r\n			<p>School of Medicine</p>\r\n\r\n			<p>University of Guyana</p>\r\n\r\n			<p>Pediatrician</p>\r\n\r\n			<p>Georgetown Public Hospital Cooperation</p>\r\n			</td>\r\n		</tr>\r\n	</tbody>\r\n</table>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>Registration Required:</strong></p>\r\n\r\n<p>To attend the conferences, you are required to register. Please complete your registration using the link <u><a href=\"https://ee.kobotoolbox.org/x/#Yf2X\">https://ee.kobotoolbox.org/x/#Yf2X</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 609, 618, 'und', 0, '<h4><strong>By M Margaret Burke</strong></h4>\r\n\r\n<p>THE University of Guyana’s Final Year students of Tain Campus, Berbice have been very determined to construct a shade house and to present it to the Winifred Gaskin Memorial Secondary School. It is mandatory for final year students who are reading for their Degree in Social Work at the University to actively engage in activities which will help them to cultivate what they would have learned during the four years of study.</p>\r\n\r\n<h4><strong>CHOOSING THE WINIFRED GASKIN SECONDARY SCHOOL</strong></h4>\r\n\r\n<p>This was the initiative of the Faculty of Social Sciences Final Year Project for the course in Professional Development 2 (DSW 4100), under the guidance of Lecturer Chelsey Halley- Crawford. It was steered by three students-Christine Persaud, Ashley-Ann Fable and Andrea Charles who gave themselves the name “The Determined crew”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>After the outline was given by Halley-Crawford for choosing somewhere to work with, the Rehabilitation School in Port Mourant and the Special Needs School in New Amsterdam were the two schools given much thought by the three students, but in order to make every group member satisfied with location, the Winifred Gaskin Memorial Secondary School was the final choice. “Upon speaking with the Headmaster, Mr. Imran Ally in the first instance, he was delighted to have the ‘determine crew’”, Andrea Charles told the Pepperpot Magazine.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Charles said that the Winifred Gaskin Secondary School is located in what is considered as a ‘catchment area’ that is said to be of a low socio-economic standing. Furthermore, it was observed that there is a prevalence of illicit drug use, among other social problems, in the area. It was also believed that some of these factors may have an impact on the lives and performance of the students of the institution. As such, one of their main targets of intervention was the ‘shade house’, which is to be used by the students as part of their farming activities. She added that the ‘Determined Crew’ also got involved in counselling and motivational talks.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>THE JOURNEY</strong><br />\r\n“It should be noted that had it not been for our heavenly Father, the project could not have been a success. The ‘Determined Crew’ upon embarking on the journey knew it would not have been an easy task to get accomplished. We knew [that] it required a lot of commitment, patience, cooperation and skills. However, we were ready to take on such a role and as such did not back down from the task,” Charles said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>BRINGING ABOUT CHANGE</strong><br />\r\nCharles told the Pepperpot Magazine that as a team they held each other’s hands and encouraged each other throughout the journey just to fulfill one of the long-awaited dreams of the school. The final year student said that for the Social Work students, it was not about just doing a project but the emphasis was placed on bringing about a change wherever they are placed.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>PROVISION OF NEEDS</strong><br />\r\nThe main responsibility of the social worker is to provide for felt needs of the client and to improve their present condition. It’s not just about a good grade, but also to leave a smile on someone’s face by changing the situations for the best. It was not a project that was pushed into the face of the school, but the headmaster expressed that the shade house was an urgent and long expected dream for the Agriculture Department of the school. He also stated that the students tend to feel demotivated to go out into the sun to work and as such the shade house would aid in their Agriculture practicum for the CXC students.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>From the start this project was a collaborative effort, Charles said. The willing support from headmaster, staff, students and community members, was key to the success of the project.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>PROJECT COST</strong><br />\r\nCharles said that the ‘shade house’ cost approximately $96,000 and that sum of money could not have been realised were it not for some generous and kind-hearted people who contributed significantly. Such persons are Poonai’s Pharmacy, Chattergoon Supermarket, Ishmiel, Hamid General Stores, both at Fyrish and Rosehall, Razac, Anamayah administrator of the Anamyah Hospital, Dr. Sugrim and the Emo Supermarket. Also, the carpenter, Junior Dejonge and boys did an amazing job in constructing the shade house. The ‘Determined Crew’ is very grateful for all the support we received in accomplishing this task.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>CLOSING CEREMONY</strong><br />\r\nThe project was completed before March 20 and was handed over to the Winfred Gaskin Secondary School on March 22, 2018, in the form of a closing ceremony. During the ceremony, the ‘Determined Crew’ and the headmaster expressed their heartfelt gratitude to each other, while Halley-Crawford also expressed her gratitude to the School and the group for such a “marvellous job” done.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>ENCOURAGEMENT TO OTHER SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS</strong><br />\r\nIt does not matter the task given to you, once you look at it in a positive an optimistic way, you can get through. The Famous Light Bulb inventor, “Thomas Edison” tried a thousand ways in getting his bulb invented. Each way he would have learnt something different why it didn’t work and were able to correct it. Also there is one time when Thomas Edison Lab caught fire after so many efforts he would have put into his lab- it is said that he slept on the lab’s table many nights- but instead of becoming frustrated in which many of us would have, he sent the children home to go and call their mother, for they might never have been able to see such a big fire again. (mercilinburke2017@gmail.com)</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://guyanachronicle.com/2018/04/08/the-determined-crew\">http://guyanachronicle.com/2018/04/08/the-determined-crew</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 610, 619, 'und', 0, '<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"mr-10\" src=\"/sites/default/files/gallery/medium_court_of_appeal_pnc.jpg\" style=\"width: 120px; height: 120px; float: left;\" />Former Chancellor of the Judiciary, Carl Singh says Guyana’s judiciary “has survived a testing period” characterised by one of his predecessors calling on the judiciary to toe a socialist line in support of the then government, affixing of the People’s National Congress’&nbsp; (PNC) flag outside the Court of Appeal and then President Janet Jagan tossing court papers over her shoulder.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Saying that loyalty is to the constitution and laws, he recalled that a then Chancellor of the Judiciary in 1981 had, in address to the Guyana Bar Association, linked the necessity of the rule law to create the right environment for socialist orientation and nation-building which are the dominant preoccupations of parliament and the then government. Singh further recalled that the then Chancellor had stated that the judiciary then was a necessary part of the political, economic and social system and the judiciary should consider itself as having a crucial role to play in that task by ensuring that in the all-important field of socialist development, basic values like the rule of law and justice were to be maintained. The then Head of the Judiciary, he further recalled, had stated that the high point was that while he maintained his judicial conscience, the Guyanese judge was expected to cooperate with the administration for the advancement of socialism.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Justice Victor Crane served as Chancellor of the Judiciary from 1980 to 1984 at the peak of then President Forbes Burnham’s-led PNC government’s experiment with cooperative socialism.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Reacting to Justice Crane’s views, Justice Singh remarked Wednesday night at a University of Guyana (UG)-sponsored lecture on “The Constitutional Guarantee of Fundamental Rights and the Citizen”, said to “have asked the judiciary to assume a critical role in the furtherance of a political ideology and to prescribe its cooperation with the political administration in the advancement of that ideology struck the very foundation of the separation of powers doctrine”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p class=\"rtecenter\"><img alt=\"\" src=\"/sites/default/files/gallery/ralph_ramkarran_carl.jpg\" style=\"width: 720px; height: 480px;\" /></p>\r\n\r\n<p>Justice Singh, who is currently Jurist-in-Residence at the UG, said appropriate public statements and actions from national leaders “help considerably to instill public confidence in the judiciary which is so very necessary for the effective functioning of our courts”.&nbsp; However, that was respect and support, he said, was shattered in 1997 when then President Janet Jagan had tossed a court order by then Chief Justice, Desiree Bernard, over her shoulder&nbsp; on to the floor behind her at State House. “This act was captured on camera. It was shown on national television. It was a contemptuous and disrespectful act which substantially injured the image and authority of the judiciary,” he said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"mr-10\" src=\"/sites/default/files/gallery/janet-jagan.jpg\" style=\"width: 132px; float: left; height: 150px;\" />Former long-serving member of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Ralph Ramkarran, noted that Mrs. Jagan had apologised for her action, but suggested that the PNC was yet to apologise for having its flag affixed to the Court of Appeal building. “You didn’t mention, but she did apologise after tossing the document over her shoulder, ex post facto…I haven’t heard an apology about placing the flag on the Court of Appeal but that’s by the way,” said Ramkarran who is also a former House Speaker.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Against that background, he clearly referred to the flag of the then governing PNC having been affixed to an outer wall of the Court of Appeal building in Kingston, Georgetown. He noted that although the constitution describes Guyana as a country in transition from capitalism to socialism, he credited the judiciary with reclaiming its independence.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“The judiciary, with the passage of time, has reasserted its independence and its neutrality. Over the years, the judiciary of Guyana has shown by its decision, its concern not for socialist transformation, wherever that is happening, but for the fundamental rights of the people and the maintenance of the rule of law,” said Singh who served as acting Chancellor of the Judiciary from 2005 to 2018.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://demerarawaves.com/2018/04/12/guyanas-judiciary-survives-testing-period-during-pnc-ppp-rule-former-chancellor-justice-carl-singh/\">http://demerarawaves.com/2018/04/12/guyanas-judiciary-survives-testing-period-during-pnc-ppp-rule-former-chancellor-justice-carl-singh/</a></u></p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n', '', 'full_html');
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('news', 0, 611, 620, 'und', 0, '<p>Former Chancellor of the Judiciary, Carl Singh on Wednesday night recommended that parliamentarians cease their ruckus in the House and instead change the laws that conflict with constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Delivering a lecture on “The Constitutional Guarantee of Fundamental Rights and the Citizen” at the University of Guyana (UG)-organised third conversation on law and the society, Singh said the saving of preexisting laws needs to be addressed because it impacts on the fundamental rights.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“The time is, therefore, well-nigh due for this our fully independent and sovereign republic for our legislators to take appropriate action with respect to the saving effect of Article 152 of the Constitution of preexisting laws which conflict with the constitutional guarantee of fundamental rights,” said Singh who is Jurist-in-Residence at UG.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He said if provisions in the Anti-Money Laundering legislation collide with the Fundamental Rights provisions, “then clearly they would be challenge-able”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Justice Singh explained that even if the law being saved conflicts with the fundamental rights provision constitution, the law is preserved because “the law has constitutional support”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“It is in that circumstance that I made the call that this savings law provision diminishes the value of the fundamental rights which are guaranteed to the people and therefore instead of the bedlams in the National Assembly they should focus on correcting these things and that is to remove the existing law provision which impacts not on a positive way on the fundamental rights of the citizen,” he said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Parliament is increasingly known for loud heckling between a number of government and opposition parliamentarians. Recently, opposition People’s Progressive Party parliamentarians held placards and heckled President David Granger throughout his address to Parliament.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Justice Singh, in his lecture, cited several decisions in India, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, European Union and the United States that deal with fundamental rights such as the right to life, freedom of expression,&nbsp; right to freedom of movement, access to legal counsel, and protection from discrimination.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He noted that all fundamental rights are not absolute, but contain limits and can be circumscribed by other laws. Justice Singh indicated that as situations evolve, it was important to interpret the constitution in a “broad, liberal and purposive”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Attendees included Chancellor of the Judiciary, Yonette Cummings-Edwards; Chief Justice, Roxane George-Wiltshire; Chief Magistrate, Ann Mc Lennan; Principal Magistrate, Judy Latchman; former House Speaker, Ralph Ramkarran; several judges, lawyers, magistrates and law students.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://demerarawaves.com/2018/04/12/stop-the-ruckus-in-the-house-and-fix-conflict-with-constitutionally-guaranteed-fundamental-rights-former-chancellor/\">http://demerarawaves.com/2018/04/12/stop-the-ruckus-in-the-house-and-fix-conflict-with-constitutionally-guaranteed-fundamental-rights-former-chancellor/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 612, 621, 'und', 0, '<p>UNIVERSITY of Guyana Berbice Campus Open/Career Day opened on Wednesday with hundreds of students in attendance.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The event held under the theme ‘Expanding Your Horizons: Exploring the Possibilities’ featured some 40 booths from various companies across Guyana.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In a very interactive presentation, Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith gave away two $50,000 scholarships to aid with tuition at the university and urged students to be agents of change by focusing on excellence and being honest while striving for the best.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“If you are interested in just being a B student or a C student and just making it through, don’t come to the University of Guyana; we don’t want students who are interested in mediocrity. If you want to be an excellent student, if you want to be a change agent and want to achieve the high bar, then do well in your primary school and secondary school so when you come to the university, you would be adequately prepared for excellence,” said Professor Griffith.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He also warned students against plagiarism and urged those present to use the opportunity presented by the university through the career day to explore their options and work towards achieving said goal.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Among the booths that received a lot of attention were ExxonMobil and their partners, El Dorado Offshore and JSL International. Speaking with Guyana Chronicle, Communications Analyst for ExxonMobil, Nicholas Yearwood said his company was extremely pleased to have been invited by the University of Guyana to participate, as they saw the opportunity as an excellent one to educate and impact people outside of the capital city.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“We have given out in excess of over 300 recruitment cards with our detailed information and have encouraged people to submit CVs for us to review so whenever opportunities arise, we revisit them to become candidates for the opening,” said Yearwood.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Meanwhile, Shonna Glasgow, Senior Recruitment and Manpower Officer at<br />\r\nthe Ministry of Social Protection who has an office in Princess Elizabeth Road, New Amsterdam, said she was pleasantly surprised that not a lot of people are aware of their recruitment office in Berbice.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>She was grateful for the opportunity to participate and expects a massive influx of applications based on responses.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Among the participants were several commercial banks, the Guyana Post<br />\r\nOffice Corporation; Guyana Sugar Corporation estates and training school; the Regional Health Authority, Region Six; Department of Public Information; Guyana Rice Development Board; Nand Persaud and Company; Massy Group of Companies; the Guyana Police Force; and several others.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The UGBC Education faculty also had on display a large booth that teachers created under the theme “Improvisation”. The educational pieces on display were made from recycled materials such as plastic bottles, cups, old DVDs etc.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The career day also featured cultural pieces as well as a display at the Natural Science Faculty where several experiments were done, including dissection of frogs, much to the amazement of students.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://guyanachronicle.com/2018/04/11/ug-berbice-campus-career-day-fair-attracts-hundreds\">https://guyanachronicle.com/2018/04/11/ug-berbice-campus-career-day-fair-attracts-hundreds</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 613, 622, 'und', 0, '<p>As Scotiabank prepares to celebrate 50 years of operating in Guyana, the financial institution has rolled out a number of initiatives, including the introduction of technologically advanced banking services. This was announced by the bank’s Country Manager, Raymond Smith, when the company launched its 50th anniversary, which will be in September. According to Smith, Scotiabank had proudly blazed the trail for commercial banking in Guyana and now, it has to turned its attention to strategies that see the company doing the same over the next 50 years ahead.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He went on to quote the President and Chief Executive Officer of Scotiabank – headquartered in Canada – Brian Porter, who said the bank is “…a technology company offering financing services”. To this end, Smith said Scotiabank is committed to providing customers with a “superior banking experience” and as such, will be implementing a suite of digital solutions to better serve and satisfy customers. “In this regard, we anticipate that during the course of this year we will introduce the next generation of ABMs (Automated Banking Machine) or Intelligence Banking Machines “IMB” as they are also referred to. Also, we plan to introduce new card products and additional online solutions. The one that we are really excited about is the ability to transfer funds to third parties from the convenience of your laptop, tablet or smartphone,” the Country Manager announced.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He noted that Scotiabank will be using technology to build efficiency, cost savings and responsiveness into its operations, as it aims to be an agile organisation that can easily and quickly adjust to changes in the industry and the markets in which it operates. Furthermore, Smith also referred to new CSR-based initiatives that the bank is undertaking as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations. Among these is Scotiabank’s signature CSR (customer service relation) project will be its new partnership with the University of Guyana to commission a “SMART” classroom within the Faculty of Natural Science.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“This project, which is in alignment with the bank’s digital focus, will cost $2 million, and will provide current and future students with the benefits of an international learning environment. It is being funded through the Scotiabank Community Programme and hopefully, it’s the first of many more similar projects with the University of Guyana,” the Country Manager said. He added that another such initiative for the bank’s jubilee anniversary is its annual Vision Achiever Programme Business Plan competition, which is an initiative intended to promote entrepreneurship and has a first prize of $1 million and a runner-up prize of $500,000.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“This year in celebration of our 50th anniversary, we have doubled the prize money. Former participants of this competition have gone on to start new businesses while others have expanded their existing businesses,” Smith noted. This competition, which was also launched on Friday, is opened to Guyanese residents 18 years and older who are interested in starting a business or have an existing small business they want to expand. Meanwhile, Scotiabank was lauded for its continuous investments in Guyana over the past 50 years by Governor General of the Bank of Guyana, Dr Gobind Ganga, who said the company has participated in the transformation of the Guyanese economy, while at the same time, transforming its operations to meet the challenges that came with economic transformation.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“The Bank of Guyana has been heartened over the years by (Scotiabank’s) success and leadership in the industry. The Bank of Guyana continues to support Scotia role as an important player and partner, not only because of its support to the nation’s development, but also because of the drive for efficiency, and diffusion of relevant international best practices in banking and accounting principles which contribute in enhancing stability and transparency of the financial system,” Dr Ganga posited. He went on to note that the discovery of oil offshore Guyana not only has huge developmental potential for the country, but will also provide opportunities for the banking sector.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“The rapid development of technology also offers many opportunities which we are yet to tap into. While we are getting acquainted with new technologies and buzz-words such as retooling, reengineering, and smart solutions, newer buzz words are already here, artificial intelligence, big data, and virtual transactions… Our industry must continue to evolve to be abreast with these complexities and to grasp the opportunities,” the BoG Governor General stated. Also making brief remarks at the bank’s 50th anniversary launch were Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Lilian Chatterjee, and Dr Paloma Mohamed, Deputy Vice President at the University of Guyana.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://guyanatimesgy.com/scotiabank-to-introduce-advanced-banking-services/\">https://guyanatimesgy.com/scotiabank-to-introduce-advanced-banking-services/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 617, 626, 'und', 0, '<p>THE University of Guyana (UG) Faculty of Technology has received $10M worth of refrigerant and air-conditioning equipment and a new refrigerant management course to aid in the elimination of harmful ozone gases. This presentation was held on Tuesday at the Faculty of Technology and was made possible through collaborative efforts by the Ministry of Agriculture and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The kind gesture comes as a result of the HCFC Phase-Out Management Programme (HPMP) under the Montreal Protocol, which operates through the Hydromet Service of the Ministry of Agriculture. Hydrochlorofluorocarbons or HCFCs are gases used worldwide in refrigeration, air-conditioning and foam applications, which are known as Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS).</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In August 1993, Guyana ratified the Montreal Protocol which aims to systematically phase out the use of HCFCs and strengthen its global position on environmental protection. By adhering to the Montreal Protocol schedule, the complete phase-out of HCFCs is expected to be realised by 2030. However, in order for Guyana to successfully meet this goal, individuals must be trained in new and emergent technologies, which will replace the substances and equipment being phased out.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>As such, the 8-10 week Refrigerant Management Course will target electrical and mechanical engineering students, as well as industry professionals who wish to acquire additional certification. Meanwhile, the equipment donated, which include Visual and Automotive Refrigeration and Air-conditioning training units, as well as several other tools, will help students to better comprehend the course. Support for this initiative was provided in part by the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol, while the UNDP, UN Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture partnered to execute the project.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Delivering the keynote remarks was Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Delma Nedd, who said that the undertaking is a part of the government’s long-term plan for sustainable development. Between 2011 to present, more than 125 technicians were provided with training on good refrigeration practices and alternative technologies, while some 80 technicians are trained annually through the HCFC Phase-Out Management Programme. This has contributed to a significant reduction in the number of untrained service personnel operating in the sector.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“The Ministry of Agriculture is pleased to be partnering with the Faculty of Technology through this initiative, which is expected to accrue significant long-term benefits for both the environment and human development in Guyana,” she remarked. Nedd said Guyana’s strategy to phase out the importation of HCFCs includes the introduction of an import licensing system, as well as a national standard for the safe servicing of refrigerants and conditioning equipment. Meanwhile, UNDP Representative Mikiko Tanaka, said implementation of the training programme and the acquisition of equipment will increase Guyana’s capacity to successfully manage and eliminate ODSs.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>She re-affirmed the UNDP’s support for Guyana and commended UG for incorporating the training in its curriculum. Dean of the Faculty of Technology, Elena Trim, told the gathering that as Guyana moves steadily ahead into the oil and gas era, buildings which will spring up will require central air-conditioning systems. As such, she said that both mechanical and electrical engineers must be fully aware of how to deal with the new equipment in the sector.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://guyanachronicle.com/2018/04/25/ug-gets-10m-worth-of-refrigerant-equipment\">https://guyanachronicle.com/2018/04/25/ug-gets-10m-worth-of-refrigerant-equipment</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 618, 627, 'und', 0, '<p>Over 40 young girls will over the next 12 weekends undergo training in coding as part of an initiative to encourage and nurture their participation in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) field.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The opening session of the Guyanese Girls Code programme, which is an initiative of the Ministry of Public Telecommunications in collaboration with the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) and the University of Guyana (UG), was held yesterday at the Education Lecture Theatre at the Turkeyen Campus.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The programme is designed to teach Beginners Coding/Programming to Guyanese girls between the ages of 11 and 14. The goal of the initiative is to address the gender disparity in the Guyana’s ICT sector, where women and girls remain underrepresented.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“You are the chosen generation. You guys are going to transform Guyana with how you use and promote ICT”, Minister of Public Telecommunications Catherine Hughes told the participants during the welcome remarks.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Hughes said at last opportunities can be given to girls to ensure that they can fully participate in the important field. “So, today is really the start of a whole new journey that you girls will undertake, hopefully starting today, the experience will go with you through the rest of your lives,” Hughes said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Hughes noted that this is important since usually when situations arise involving the use of computers and ICT, there is little or no involvement of girls, and “…we want to make sure that the girls are equally there.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Normally, we are faced with the question: where are the girls?” Hughes observed, while relating that sometimes in a room fill with about sixty people who are all computer graphic specialists or programmers or website developers or animation developers, there are only two girls.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>She stated that in developed countries across the world, women can be seen operating at the “higher levels” and this should also be visible in Guyana.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“The great thing is more girls are doing well at high school, more girls are going into university, so we girls have got the capacity to do it,” Hughes continued.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>She said that her ministry always believed that they had to make a change and “…that we had to train more of our Guyanese women to get into Information Technology. ICT is not only meant for boys and girls. Women are exceeding, exceling and they are leading in many ways.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“There are so many facets of being a part of this ICT thing, not just the laptops, tablet, phones, all of that is part of the ICT agenda, so you have nothing to be bored about,” Hughes related while telling the young girls, “you have a wonderful opportunity, take advantage of it”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Meanwhile, Penelope DeFreitas, Head of UG’s Computer Science Department and Lead Instructor of the Guyanese Girls Code Programme, said that the number of participants is overwhelming since only about 20 girls were catered for during a discussion of the plans for the project.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The curriculum will cover both theoretical and practical aspects, DeFreitas said. The theory, she noted, will be about 40 percent of the course and covers a range of topics, including the pioneers in computer science, practical applications of software and hardware in the real world, security and the responsibility when it comes to using technology, while the practical aspect will encompass a number of activities.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/stories/04/15/coding-course-launched-to-encourage-more-girls-in-ict-field/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/stories/04/15/coding-course-launched-to-encourage-more-girls-in-ict-field/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 619, 628, 'und', 0, '<p>The name Jay and Sylvia Sobhraj Centre for Behavioral Studies and Research Centre will soon be emblazoned on a state-of-the-art facility at the University of Guyana Turkeyen campus.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Jay Sobhraj, a Guyanese born United States based philanthropist, has pumped a significant grant of $80,000,000 to establish the state-of-the-art behavioural study, research and multi-purpose centre in place of the old canteen building.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The facility will house a bookstore, food court, model counselling centre, student gym and prayer rooms. It will also have an extended Medex Station and cater to various programmes including psychology, social work, criminology and psychiatry.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The funding is being provided through the Jay and Sylvia Sobhraj Foundation.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Jay Sobhraj, one of the founders of the charitable organisation said his education was made possible through grants and he is grateful that he is now in a position to give back to his homeland.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“We have to take care of our motherland,” Sobhraj declared.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>An enthusiastic and deeply grateful Vice Chancellor Prof. Ivelaw Griffith said that discussions had been ongoing for a year.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“This is not only a signally important milestone along rebranding and rebuilding, but it testifies to our recognition of the essential purpose of our being to enhance the ability of our students to come in and get experience,” Prof. Griffith, said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Philanthropy requires cultivation and time,” the VC pointed out, as he expressed gratitude to the foundation for making such a significant contribution to UG developing and expanding its curriculum.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Centre will provide a location for the new psychology programme which the University will start in March 2018 and which is being funded by United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF).</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The new research facility will complement the mental health department which was established by the Ministry of Public Health. The department is currently training Mental Health Practitioners to work with mentally challenged persons. Over 100 such practitioners have been trained to date.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://dpi.gov.gy/us-based-philanthropist-gives-back-bigtime-pumps-80million-into-state-of-the-art-research-centre-at-ug/\">http://dpi.gov.gy/us-based-philanthropist-gives-back-bigtime-pumps-80million-into-state-of-the-art-research-centre-at-ug/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 620, 629, 'und', 0, '<p>The University of Guyana has signed an agreement with the US-based Jay and Sylvia Sobhraj Foundation to refurbish and convert the building that formerly housed the Spicy Dish restaurant into a state-of-the-art behavioural studies and research centre at a cost of US$400,000 or some $80 million.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Speaking yesterday at the signing ceremony held at the university’s Turkeyen campus, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Paloma Mohamed said the funding “is the first major gift by a single individual or a foundation given to the university.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In brief remarks Vice Chancellor Professor Ivelaw Griffith expressed his appreciation to the foundation for helping the university improve its facilities to ensure adequate teaching, and adequate social amenities for students and staff.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The multipurpose facility will be called the Jay and Sylvia Sobhraj Centre for Behavioural Studies and Research after the husband and wife who founded the foundation. The centre will accommodate the university’s psychology programme.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The programme began in March with the offer of a diploma in psychology and based on the completion of the facility, the undergraduate degree and master’s degree programmes are likely to be offered at the end of the year, Mohamed said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In a brief background on how he got involved in giving back, cofounder and mechanical engineer Jairaj “Jay” Sobhraj said that he was fortunate to have gotten a British education from small grants, “a ten pound here and a ten pound there”, provided by foundations. In those days there were no students’ loans available to help him and his parents could not afford to pay the tuition fee for his university education.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Sobhraj who left Guyana in the 60s and studied in England, returned to work in the bauxite industry in 1975 and 1976. “I was a coward. You know the saying, ‘when you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.&nbsp; I couldn’t handle it.” He returned to England then moved to the Middle East where he worked on oil rigs for 12 years.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>After he and his wife Sylvia, a nurse, formed the foundation, together with directors Nardeo Singh, information technology consultant and Sravan, an entrepreneur, they formed partnerships with several institutions in Guyana, including the Guyana Police Force and the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana to which they have provided computer training.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>On graduating, Sobhraj said, he had no loans to repay and he thanked God that today he can share what he received from others with people in his home country.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Many Africans and Indians say that Africa and India is our motherland. That is our grandmother land. Guyana is our motherland. We have to take care of our own.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Speaking of the gift, he said, “We are hoping that what we are doing here today will motivate others to do the same. There are many willing Guyanese in North America and Europe who want to do the same but they are not aware of how to go about doing it.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The US$400,000 is the first major gift by a private individual or foundation negotiated under the office of the deputy vice chancellor – philanthropy, alumni and civic engagement (PACE).</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The project had its origins at a social gathering hosted by Patrick Sooklall of Impressions who made the introductions between the university through Mohamed and the foundation about a year ago.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The design of the project is being done pro bono by UG alumnus/past lecturer and architect Sheldon Williams.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The project will include an upper floor that will house four soundproof lecture rooms, one state- -of-the-art classroom and one smart classroom that will accommodate from 30 to 100 students. It will also accommodate a boardroom for 30 people.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The lower floor will house a food court and lounge, campus store and bookstore, a students’ gym and a meeting room each for Christian, Hindu and Muslim students. It is expected that the refurbishment will be completed in time for the opening of the start of the semester in September.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/stories/04/26/us-based-couple-gifts-80m-for-behavioural-studies-centre-at-ug/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/stories/04/26/us-based-couple-gifts-80m-for-behavioural-studies-centre-at-ug/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('carousel_entry', 0, 621, 630, 'und', 0, '<p><strong>ENTREPRENEURSHIP CONFERENCE 2018</strong></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 622, 631, 'und', 0, '<p>The objective of the Project is to strengthen the four science and technology faculties at UG through infrastructure, research and curricular improvements while building the basis for improved facilities management and future growth. </p>\r\n<iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/vhrtUK7z3GQ\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen></iframe>\r\n<br><br>\r\n<iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/JrSOwgZcPSs\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen></iframe>', '', 'full_html'),
('news', 0, 623, 632, 'und', 0, '<p>The Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) will meet this week from the 2–4 May, 2018. The main focus of the meeting will be the implementation of the Human Resource Development (HRD) 2030 Strategy. The Strategy was endorsed by the Conference of Heads of Government at its Thirty-Eighth Regular Meeting in Grenada in July 2017, based on prior consideration and approval by COHSOD XXXII in March of the same year.</p>\r\n<p><iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"315\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/YnESS0Zi5VQ?ecver=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>\r\n\r\n<p>The COHSOD will also focus on the discussion and approval of a Regional Action Plan (2018 – 2020) for the Strategy, and agreement on arrangements for monitoring and evaluation at both regional and national levels of implementation. Specific attention will be given to the imperative of inter-sectoral action in the context of approved strategies in the areas of social, economic, environmental and technological resilience as articulated in the Caribbean Community Strategic Plan (2015 – 2019).</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The meeting will kick off with an opening ceremony at the Theatre Guild in Guyana that includes an unprecedented thought leadership forum on “Positioning Human Resource Development (HRD) as Central to Caribbean Resilience and Development”. The forum will be led by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Ivelaw Griffith, and two discussants Deputy Premier and Minister of Education, Youth Affairs and Sport of Montserrat, the Hon. Delmaude Ryan, and Artist, Economist and Recipient of the Caribbean Laureate of Arts and Letters Award, Mr. Adrian Augier. According to Director, Human Development at the CARICOM Secretariat Ms. Myrna Bernard, a wide range of stakeholders were invited to the meeting. She said this was important as a holistic approach was needed when addressing Human Resource Development.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Ms. Bernard advised that an implementation plan for the strategy had already been devised and will be done in three phases. She said the first phase would go up to the year 2020 and the COHSOD meeting would be looking at the actions that needed to be taken up until then. She added that there were two components in the strategy, a regional component and a national component. She said that, at the Regional Level, they would try to provide “Regional Public Goods” that would enable Member States to be better able to carry out the implementation on the national level.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>She added that all the issues to be addressed in the meeting would be tied to the Human Resource Development Strategy and its implementation. Some of the topics included early childhood education, tertiary and secondary development, developing youth who were already out of school and training of managers. She said the main objective was to get buy-in from Member States for all the initiatives that would be undertaken during the implementation.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"480\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/8SOeoQJbiE8?ecver=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>\r\n\r\n<p>Following a workshop held in May 2017, Ms. Bernard gave the assurance that the Human Resource Development 2030 Strategy would not just sit on a shelf, but would be implemented. Participants of that workshop included representatives from the 15 CARICOM Member States, the Associate Members, International Development Partners, Private Sector/Civil Society Organisations as well as Regional Institutions in education and business. The focus of this COHSOD bears testament to that assurance.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"480\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/FhHTTp3zjXo?ecver=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>\r\n<p>The Regional Education and Human Resource Development 2030 Strategy and Action Plan are intended to form the basis for converged action by Member States.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://today.caricom.org/2018/04/30/cohsod-meeting-this-week-to-focus-on-implementation-of-hrd-strategy/\">https://today.caricom.org/2018/04/30/cohsod-meeting-this-week-to-focus-on-implementation-of-hrd-strategy/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'plain_text_new'),
('news', 0, 624, 633, 'und', 0, '<p>A course in ‘Wildlife Survey Techniques’ was recently offered for students and faculty in the Departments of Biology, Forestry, and Environmental Science at the University of Guyana (UG) and included a field portion.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>A release from the organisers of the course said that classroom-based portion of the course was delivered by guest lecturers, Dr. Burton Lim of the Royal Ontario Museum and Dr. Matt Hallett of the University of Florida and Jacksonville Zoo &amp; Gardens.&nbsp; The release said Dr. Lim is an expert on small mammals in the tropics, particularly bats, and has been working here since the initial surveys ahead of the Georgetown-Lethem highway and Iwokrama forest in 1990.&nbsp; Dr. Hallett is the founder of the Rupununi Wildlife Research Unit and has been studying jaguars and their prey in the Rupununi for the last eight years.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The lectures were open to the public and delivered at UG’s Turkeyen campus from 5-9 March 2018.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The field portion of the course was hosted at Yarrowkabra Training Centre 12-16 March 2018, via a donation of the space by the Guyana Forestry Commission.&nbsp; Experts from the Rupununi, Asaph Wilson (South Rupununi Conservation Society), Eon Gray (South Rupununi Conservation Society), Kenneth Butler (Surama Eco-Lodge), and Fernando Li (Caiman House Research Station), joined Dr. Hallett and Dr. Lim in helping students build the practical skills required for undertaking wildlife research, the release said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Students developed practical skills through daily sampling of birds (mist nets surveys; handling animals for taking body measurements and banding; conducting point counts) among other tasks.&nbsp; Overall, students, faculty, and instructors documented 18 species of reptiles and amphibians (6 frogs, 7 lizards, 3 snakes, 2 caiman), 98 species of birds (12 species weighed and measured), and 24 species of small mammals (22 bats, 2 rodents), and 15 species of medium-large mammals (tayra, deer, agouti, porcupine, armadillo, opossum, and 3 species of primates).</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The release said that one resounding fact highlighted from the course was the value of bringing students and faculty together with expertise&nbsp; existing in the country. Students remarked that incorporating the instructors from the Rupununi gave the course “a mixture of professional and cultural knowledge that created a beautiful and educational mix.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The course was supported by an academic programme to strengthen technical capacity for natural resource management in Guyana. The release said that the programme&nbsp; is funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) under the title, ‘Achieving a Green State: Building human capacity for natural resource management in Guyana’. The project aims to place the University of Guyana at the forefront of high-impact academic research on natural resource management, the release added.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/stories/05/08/ug-wildlife-survey-course-helped-students-build-practical-skills/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/stories/05/08/ug-wildlife-survey-course-helped-students-build-practical-skills/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 625, 634, 'und', 0, '<p>A significant step in the direction of forging the long sought closer ties between the University of Guyana and the country’s business community will be taken this weekend when the university’s recently established School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation (SEBI) commences its first ever Entrepreneurship&nbsp;&nbsp; and Innovation Conference under the theme “Economic Transformation through Entrepreneurship&nbsp;&nbsp; &amp; Innovation.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Conference, which will held from May 20 to May 22 at the Ramada George-town Princess Hotel gives effect to an undertaking given by UG Vice Chancellor, Professor Ivelaw Griffith during an extended interview with the Stabroek Business some months ago that he was aiming to have SEBI play a role in creating meaningful linkages between UG and the local business community.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>SEBI was launched in July last year by Vice Chancellor Griffith who said at the opening that the institution was geared towards providing the nation with the entrepreneurial and business requirements it needs to develop, equip and certify persons in both the public and private sectors.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Earlier attempts to develop ties between UG and the business community had been limited largely to contributions of gifts to University by private sector entities. The establishment of SEBI had been preceded by consultations between UG and various interest groups including the private sector.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;SEBI envisages the delivery of a curriculum that embraces elements of the liberal arts, critical thinking, foreign languages, business simulations and case studies. The SEBI Faculty draws on the skills and experiences of local business leaders.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>While the forum is a collaborative initiative that involves the university and a number of state agencies including the Ministry of Business and the Small Business Bureau, Turkeyen can claim considerable credit from the extent to which it has pressed the private sector into service in support of the forum. A statement issued by the conference secretariat lists no less than a dozen private sector entities including the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph&nbsp; Company,&nbsp; (GTT), ExxonMobil, the Institute&nbsp; of&nbsp; Private&nbsp; Enterprise&nbsp; Development and several local commercial banks as partners in the this weekend’s initiative.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“The&nbsp; SEBI&nbsp; Inaugural&nbsp; Entrepreneurship&nbsp; and Innovation&nbsp; Conference&nbsp; will&nbsp; not&nbsp; only&nbsp; set&nbsp; the environment&nbsp; to&nbsp; advance discussions around entrepreneurship and innovation, it will also give local entrepreneurs the opportunity to exhibit their products and services,” the statement from the conference secretariat said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Both public and private sector observers will also be mindful of the fact that the forum has attracted a number of distinguished speakers and panelists, including Guyanese residing in the diaspora. The Conference, the statement says, will bring together “academic&nbsp; scholars,&nbsp; practitioners,&nbsp; and&nbsp; policy-makers&nbsp; to&nbsp; examine&nbsp; how&nbsp; entrepreneurship&nbsp; has and&nbsp; can continue to support economic transformation in a developing economy.” It will also “provide an opportunity to&nbsp;&nbsp; share&nbsp;&nbsp; knowledge&nbsp;&nbsp; and&nbsp; experiences&nbsp;&nbsp; of&nbsp;&nbsp; researchers&nbsp;&nbsp; and&nbsp;&nbsp; practitioners&nbsp; in&nbsp;&nbsp; understanding&nbsp;&nbsp; the&nbsp;&nbsp; importance&nbsp;&nbsp; of entrepreneurship to the future of Guyana.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>As much as anything else this weekend’s event will provide a yardstick with which to measure SEBI’s capacity to deliver on its promise to create a working partnership between the public and private sectors. Among the commitments made by SEBI was that it would provide a facility that would serve both to develop the capabilities of serving entrepreneurs as well as to cater to the more formal training needs of employees holding positions in private sector institutions.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>When Stabroek Business visited SEBI earlier this year classes also included several students pursuing formal degree programmes at UG.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/business/05/18/ug-school-of-business-hosting-inaugural-entrepreneurship-forum/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/business/05/18/ug-school-of-business-hosting-inaugural-entrepreneurship-forum/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 626, 635, 'und', 0, '<p>The Ministry of Public Telecommunications is examining the further development of an animation industry in Guyana.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>This was disclosed, today Minister Cathy Hughes at the inaugural Entrepreneurship and Innovation Conference.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Minister told the gathering that the development of an animation industry will provide further investment opportunities for the country and will also foster new entrepreneurs and employment opportunities.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>She said the government will be networking with relevant stakeholders to build synergy for the development of the industry since the animation industry has increased significantly across the Caribbean.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“We are looking at opportunities to ensure budding entrepreneurs are given opportunities to develop ourselves in the animation market … the opportunities to garner international business is real and possible and we think here our labour cost makes an advantage for us to be able to compete in a worldwide market compared to those in the industry.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>According to the minister, there is currently a small privately-owned animation studio called Animax which began in 2013 providing 15 to 16 seats for showings. The ministry has already funded three persons involved in local animation network for training in Suriname.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://dpi.gov.gy/mopt-is-mulling-development-of-animation-industry/\">http://dpi.gov.gy/mopt-is-mulling-development-of-animation-industry/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html');
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('news', 0, 627, 636, 'und', 0, '<p>This Wednesday May 23rd, Professor Ivelaw Griffith, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Guyana (UG), will be hosting a solemn ceremony at the George Walcott Lecture Theatre in memory of Harold ‘Harry’ Drayton, who died in March of this year. Professor Drayton was the first deputy vice-chancellor and Vice Principal of UG, as well as Professor of Biology and Head of the Biology Department (1963-72). His family – his children, Richard and Alison, grandchildren and siblings – will be represented at the ceremony by his wife, Dr. Vonna Drayton.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Harold Drayton has gifted us with an extraordinary, 900 page autobiography, titled An Accidental Life, published by Hansib Books. Two weeks ago the Guyanese community turned out in their numbers for the most recent book launch in Toronto organized by the University of Guyana Alumni Association. Harold had been involved in planning the event, which turned into a celebration of his life.&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The monograph spans some eight decades; Harry’s early years and education in Georgetown, Guyana; his teaching stint in Grenada; studying at the University College of the West Indies in Jamaica and then working there before leaving for Edinburgh where he would graduate with a doctorate; lecturing in Zoology in Ghana before taking up then Premier Cheddi Jagan’s invitation to return to Guyana and&nbsp; assume major responsibility for establishing the University of Guyana; moving to Barbados to take up an appointment with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO); and closing out a varied and illustrious career with his work at the World Health Organization at the University of Texas at Galveston.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The book stands as an incredible archive – offering ethnographic observations as well as first-hand accounts based on extraordinary recollection and detail of people, places and events</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;– in which the hopes of a decolonizing Caribbean generation and some of their postcolonial disappointments are contained within its covers. Barbadian writer George Lamming correctly described Drayton as a “witness and participant” who has provided us with an extraordinary “portrait of an era which defines the modern Caribbean and the long decisive process of decolonisation during the second half of the twentieth century.” So many of these portraits were deeply and simultaneously personal and political: from D, his beloved East Indian stepfather who would die just before Harry returned to lead the effort to create the University of Guyana; to Norma Meeks, a landlady who during a difficult period in Jamaica, demonstrated what caring labour could look like; to Richard ‘Dick’ Hart, whom he credits for his political education and after whom he named his son.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>This book is really about education, not narrowly conceived in the book learning sense. The first lessons are those he learns from D, an autodidact with a fierce sense of justice who left school before he was 13. In an age before social media, Drayton describes scenes in which women and men gathered in D’s living room to read and argue “about contemporary local issues, unemployment; low prices being paid for ‘our’ sugar; increases in the price of food; Hubert Critchlow and the waterfront workers; A.A. Thorne and the Workers’ League that organised factory workers in the sugar industry; Ayube Edun, C.R. Jacob, and the M.P.C.A. – the sugar union for field and clerical workers.” Here we see a commitment to study, where study is defined as engagement and debate – frequently enlivened by food, laughter and quarrel – and is not confined to a restrictive notion of a classroom. They were connected via the sailors and dockworkers who brought news of the disturbances sweeping the English-speaking Caribbean in the 1930s. From the last ships that were repatriating Indians to India at the end of their indentured contracts, they followed the work of the Indian National Congress and opposed Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia. Their sense of being Guyanese was not parochial and insular but internationalist and based on principles of solidarity and justice. For Drayton, it was, as Frank Birbalsingh has noted, driven by a “progressive, revolutionary, socialist ideology that inspired, for instance, his attendance at student festivals in Eastern European countries, and his seminal contribution to the establishment of the University of Guyana, the centre-piece of his achievement as a whole.” In Jamaica he was part of the People’s Educational Organization in Kingston, where there would be open meetings and public lectures attended by working class audiences on topics including apartheid, the Chinese Revolution, slave revolts, maroon wars, Jim Crow and racial discrimination in the US.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>These commitments did not come without costs. Recipient of an elite education as he moved into Queen’s College, the country’s premier school for boys (at the time), one was meant to be prepped to take the reins as member of a suitably trained, respectable elite class that would not threaten the status quo. Even respectability was no guarantee; this was after all the same school that would initially deny Norman Cameron a teaching job because he was Black. The lesson would be clear when, as a member of the QC Literary and Debating Society, Drayton invited Jocelyn Hubbard of the Political Affairs Committee to come to speak with students about the political situation in British Guiana, only to be reprimanded by the Headmaster that “The British Govern-ment is spending one and three pence half penny on your education here, and you repay this by associating with elements and ideas subversive to the Crown.” Later, as a student in Jamaica, Drayton would be expelled from the University College of the West Indies, at the time on the official grounds of his involvement with a female student (Trinidadian Kathleen McCracken – they would go on to get married and have two children). As his son Richard Drayton recently noted, “as a result of the release of some of Britain’s secret colonial archives…my father was able to see a digest of the file which the Jamaica Special Branch had created on him since he was barely 20…All his life before this, he had only suspected that his politics were the main reason for his expulsion but had never had proof.” Among the files he would find the following reference to his time in Jamaica: “Subject came to security notice in December 1949 through his association with people of known left wing sympathies. In February 1951, during the course of labour disturbances among the workers employed by Higgs and Hill on the construction of the University College, DRAYTON and others were active in encouraging workers to prolong the strike. About March 1951 DRAYTON was expelled from the University College for receiving Communist literature and through his association with a female student….”. Later, at the University of Guyana, he would encounter challenges and roadblocks, including from those (in the PPP) who had originally invited him to return in the first place. Facing an increasingly hostile and repressive climate after the PNC came to power, he decamped to Barbados, where he would become a regional civil servant with PAHO.</p>\r\n\r\n<div>\r\n<div>&nbsp;</div>\r\n</div>\r\n\r\n<p>In his commencement speech in 1974, six years after the first rigged elections that ushered in 22 years of dictatorship in Guyana, poet Martin Carter remarked: “It is precisely in times of crisis that we must re-examine our lives and bring to that re-examination contempt for the trivial, and respect of the riskers – those who take the risk of going forward boldly to participate in the building of a free&nbsp;community of valid persons…” Harold Drayton was such a risker, returning to Guyana in 1962 at the height of the country’s political crisis, to create a university from scratch (referred to derisively at the time as Cheddi’s night school). He has left us with a rich archive of institutional memory; he has written two diaspora columns for this newspaper on these early efforts; authored a chapter in book The University of Guyana – Perspectives on the Early History; and dedicated a great deal of his own autobiography to his administrative experiences. Bob Marley tells us to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery, and teachers like Guyanese historian Elsa Goveia centred Caribbean people in her classes, making us the subjects of our histories (Goveia taught at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica and had herself accepted an invitation by Professor Drayton to give lectures on Caribbean History for a newly inaugurated UG course before the idea was scrapped in 1964 on the altar of administrative politics and political expediency).</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We are on the eve of Guyana’s 52nd independence anniversary. What is so remarkable about Drayton’s vision – especially today, when so much of the Caribbean has been more or less recolonized by the dictates of international financial institutions that the late economist Norman Girvan described us as In-Dependence not Independent&nbsp; – was his unwavering sense that decolonization was as much as a cultural and educational project as it was political, social and economic. We see this not just in what was proposed but the kinds of pedagogies that accompanied these efforts at curricular transformation: courses on World Civilization and Caribbean Studies that would be required for all faculties and also open to the general public (today we are back to fees and the idea of an open university seems a distant dream); courses on social biology that encompassed discussions of racial science and engaged head on the challenges of these legacies in Guyana and the Caribbean; first level mathematics courses for all science students; teachers – not all Guyanese or even Caribbean, but rather an internationalist crew – who came to join the faculty, driven by a commitment to social justice. This is radical literacy. Doing the work it takes to see ourselves. It takes careful labour, as Angela Davis has noted, to “base your identity on your politics, rather than your politics on your identity.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Three years ago, in an email exchange on the future of Guyana and just on the eve of the last general elections, Harry wrote to me: “When in August 2009 I reached my 80th birthday, I decided that one of my 21st Century decisions should be: to eschew partisan politics in my homeland , if only because I had by then been living outside of Guyana – except for short visits -, for nearly 40 years, in the course of which, despite my best efforts, I had become increasingly unaware of the changing social and political landscape with which I had been so intimately associated in the 60’s and early 70’s. Another important reason for my major decision had been, and is, my firm belief that the younger generation of “actors” in Guyana must assume full responsibility for all the fundamental decisions as to the kind of Guyana and national institutions they wished to live in, and to aspire to achieving. Persons of my generation should be content with reflecting on, and chronicling as best we can- both orally and in writing – the problems with which we were confronted in bygone years, the plans that were made (those that went awry and those that bore fruit); and responding to requests from younger people for advice on possible solutions to broad national issues, some of which have their analogs in countries all over the world.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Harold Drayton also delivered his papers – about 13 boxes – to the National Archives in late 2013. He has more than fulfilled his promise to leave a reflective trace – tracks for new generations to explore, follow, deepen and extend. As we honour his contributions at the University of Guyana this Wednesday, we also thank his family for sharing him with us.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/features/in-the-diaspora/05/21/honouring-harold-draytons-contribution/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/features/in-the-diaspora/05/21/honouring-harold-draytons-contribution/</a></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 628, 637, 'und', 0, '<p>The School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation (SEBI), University of Guyana, is set to host its first Entrepreneurship and Innovation Conference titled <em>Economic Transformation through Entrepreneurship &amp; Innovation.” </em></p>\r\n\r\n<p>The conference will be held from May 20-22 at the Ramada Georgetown Princess Hotel. The event is intended to bring together academic scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers to examine how entrepreneurship has and can continue to support economic transformation in a developing economy. The conference will provide an opportunity to share knowledge and experiences of researchers and practitioners in understanding the importance of entrepreneurship to the future of Guyana.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The event is a collaboration between SEBI, the Ministry of Business and Small Business Bureau. Several public and private entities have shown their support for the conference through sponsorship; among those are telephone giant Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company, Institute of Private Enterprise Development, Ground Structure Engineering and Consultants Inc, Grace Kennedy, Go Invest, Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry Limited, Caribbean Containers, Republic Bank, Bazilio Cobb Associates, Exxon Mobil Guyana, Ministry of Business, Small Business Bureau, Demerara Bank, WT George &amp; Co. and Ministry of Education.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The SEBI Inaugural Entrepreneurship and Innovation Conference will not only set the environment to advance discussions around entrepreneurship and innovation, it will also give local entrepreneurs the opportunity to exhibit their products and services, and a Business Pitch Competition has also been added to the programme.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Registration for the conference can be done at the UG Bursary, Berbice Campus, Citizens Bank or online at <u><a href=\"http://entrepreneurshipconference.uog.edu.gy\">entrepreneurshipconference.uog.edu.gy</a></u></p>\r\n\r\n<p class=\"rtecenter\"><strong>### </strong></p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>Contact SEBI on</strong>:</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Tel. #: 592-222-4932 / 592-623-0926</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Email: sebi@uog.edu.gy</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>UG IN BRIEF </strong></p>\r\n\r\n<p>With a current enrollment of some 8,000 students, The University of Guyana (UG) has graduated more than 20,000 students who have gone on to successful careers locally, regionally and internationally. The University is also a major contributor to the national economy and to business and industry. Established in 1963 on a part-time basis with shared space at Queens College, UG moved to its own campus at Turkeyen in 1970 and expanded in 2000 with the addition of the Tain Campus. It now offers more than 60 Under-graduate and Post-graduate Programmes including Engineering, Environmental Studies, Forestry, Urban Planning and Management, Business, Entrepreneurship, Tourism Studies, Education, Creative Arts, Economics, Law, Medicine, Optometry and Nursing. Several online programmes are available and UG also offers extra-mural classes at four locations through its Institute of Distance and Continuing Education (IDCE). The UG also offers the opportunity for student engagement in debating, sports, and cultural, religious and professional activities.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Public Relations Division<br />\r\nMay 15, 2018</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('event', 0, 629, 638, 'und', 0, '<p>The University of Guyana will be hosting its Fourth Conversation on Law and Society on Thursday, May 24, 2018 at the Roraima Duke Lodge, Duke Street, Kingston, Georgetown at 18:00 hours. The Conversation on \"The Rule of Law and the Caribbean Court of Justice\" will be done by Hon. Justice Adrian Saunders, President Designate, Caribbean Court of Justice.</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 631, 640, 'und', 0, '<p>An Entrepreneurship and Innovation Conference was opened yesterday, providing members in the local business arena an opportunity to network with their international counterparts.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Dean of the UG School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation (SEBI), Professor Leyland Lucas said, according to the Department of Public Information, that the conference stemmed from conversations among stakeholders, on the&nbsp; tools needed to boost and transform free enterprise in Guyana.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Everybody is talking about entrepreneurship, but do we really understand some of the dynamics that are important to entrepreneurship. We thought we needed to put on this conference to be more than just a talk shop,” Professor Lucas said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Established businesses, budding entrepreneurs, students and academics are among those participating.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>University of Guyana’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ivelaw Griffith said the forum provides a more hands-on outlook.&nbsp; “The annual conference will not only be conversations, dreaming and doing of entrepreneurship. They will be setting the stage as part of SEBI celebrating entrepreneurs.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The two-day event at the Ramada Princess Hotel will include panel discussions and the presentations of papers.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/photos/05/22/ug-school-of-business-opens-innovation-conference/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/photos/05/22/ug-school-of-business-opens-innovation-conference/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 632, 641, 'und', 0, '<p>The US-based philanthropic organization, the Guyana Economic Development Trust is partnering with the School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation (SEBI) of the University of Guyana (UG) to provide funding for an annual Guyana Innovation Prize to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The organisation’s founder Oslene Carrington told Stabroek News yesterday “Several tens of thousands of US dollars are on the table for them to grow their businesses”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Carrington, who made a presentation during one of the sessions at the SEBI Inaugural Entrepreneurial Conference 2018 held over the past three days at the Ramada (Georgetown) Princess Hotel, at Providence, told Stabroek News yesterday that soon the Guyana Innovation Prize will award students, faculty and alumni who are engaged in innovative projects and innovative research that is connected to technology and agro-processing.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Eligible candidates for funding will be selected from applicants who presented their ideas at UG’s undergraduate conferences held in 2017 and 2018. Eight to ten projects with working ideas which have been tested, she said, are ready for further evaluation.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“They are phenomenal ideas and if they are funded, they can actually generate new products and services that are made in Guyana and can be stamped as ‘Made in Guyana,’” she said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Those evaluating the projects, she noted, are seasoned bankers, technologists and academics.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“All of us have had businesses, or currently have businesses. We will fund those business ideas based on our collective agreement and provide mentoring and support to those businesses to the point where those students can go and seek out equity financing, and loans and so forth to grow them even further,” she noted.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Guyana-born Carrington, a banker and an academic, further said, “Those ideas could then become companies that employ people. We have young people who are really smart with great research ideas. Converting those ideas into businesses can enable them to become fully employed and to employ other people. That is the aim of the Guyana Innovation Prize.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Giving a background to the founding of the trust, Carrington, who left Guyana for the US at six years, said ten Guyanese, of whom seven are based in the US and three in Georgetown, are its board members.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/guyana/05/23/us-group-to-fund-ugs-business-school-innovation-prize/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/guyana/05/23/us-group-to-fund-ugs-business-school-innovation-prize/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 633, 642, 'und', 0, '<p>The late Dr Harold A. Drayton, first Deputy Vice Chancellor and a pioneer in the development of the University of Guyana, was honoured with a solemn assembly held at the university’s Turkeyen campus yesterday afternoon.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The ceremony was characterised by performances of song and poetry, and tributes delivered by his wife, Dr Vonna-Lou Drayton, former student Professor George Ken Danns and former university lecturer Father Malcolm Rodrigues SJ.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“As I reflect on what Harry and I would have jokingly referred to as his transition, I recall bits of verses from Maya Angelou’s poem, ‘When great trees fall’, Mrs. Drayton said yesterday, during her reflection on her husband’s life.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“…His passing has left a deep void, but the joyful memories of our life together are very comforting…Harry was a good man and a wonderful husband and I am a better person for sharing the past 20 years with him,” said Drayton, who stated that her husband “did not just exist” but also “lived life to the fullest”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Not only was Dr Drayton instrumental in the establishment of the university in 1963, having been tasked with recruiting staff locally and from within the West Indies, but he was also the first Guyanese to sit on the administrative board, assuming the role of Deputy Vice Chancellor. Dr Drayton was said to have also been influential in establishing the university’s core curriculum of compulsory courses.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He would go on to head the Biology Department in 1963, a role he would serve until 1972.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“…his initiatives there, such as training of Medical Technologists among others, would subsequently evolve that department into a full faculty—the Faculty of Health Sciences—for the training of healthcare professionals,” Norwell Hinds, President of the University of Guyana Student Society read, during the commendation. He noted too that in 1995, Dr Drayton would also serve as an advisor on the establishment of a medical programme at the university.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Dr Drayton had over four decades of experience as a researcher, educator and administrator at the national, regional and international level, and notably, conducted his doctoral research in Biological Sciences with focus on the properties of cancer inducing viruses.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Professor Danns, in his reflection, stated that while serving as his lecturer, Dr Drayton challenged his beliefs, allowing him to develop critical thinking skills that have stayed with him since.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“None of these proficient professors challenged and disturbed my intellect more than Dr Drayton. None taught as challenging, as multidisciplinary and as critical to the course as he did…” Danns said, referring to his late professor as a “compelling and compact figure”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;“Dr Drayton was a servant-leader and a team player who never sought to stand out from the crowd. Dr Drayton should be honoured because he was a pioneer for the creation and the institutionalization of the University of Guyana. He should be remembered because he has produced social analogy and Caribbean Studies as multidisciplinary courses that he taught to his students from all across the university. He should be revered because from the outset, he taught his students to question and to embrace…knowledge, knowing that nothing should be held absolute in science. He should be loved because he was a classy and charismatic scholar who gave his best to this students, gave his best to the university and gave his best to his country,” Danns concluded.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The University’s Vice Chancellor Dr Ivelaw Griffith said that the university would seek to honour Dr Drayton’s memory in a number of ways, including naming a building in his honour.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Dr Griffith also urged the staff to honour his memory be ensuring that the university grows from “strength to strength” and that they maintain respect and integrity, in their obligation to practice excellence.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Present at the ceremony yesterday were Minister of Public Telecommunications Cathy Hughes, Junior Health Minister Dr Karen Cummings, and Members of Parliament Gail Teixeira and Audwin Rutherford.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adaped from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/guyana/05/24/professor-draytons-contributions-to-ug-remembered/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/guyana/05/24/professor-draytons-contributions-to-ug-remembered/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 634, 643, 'und', 0, '<p>Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin reiterated the government’s readiness to play a part in encouraging developments within the creative industry.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He was at the time addressing concerns raised at the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Conference on May 22 at the Ramada Hotel, Providence. Minister Gaskin opined that advances in the creative industries can be achieved with the help of individuals and companies already involved in those areas.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“They need to form themselves into an organisation that can then promote the development of those industries, and the government will support such initiatives,” Minister Gaskin assured.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The minister added that it is through such engagements that the areas, where the government can play a role, are identified. He noted for example, that through tax incentives and other types of enticement, the government can help promote and develop those industries that have been neglected for a number of years,</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Over 700 million dollars was allocated in the National Budget for Cultural Preservation and Conservation under the Department of Social Cohesion, to construct the Institute of Creative Arts which aims to boost the creative industries in Guyana.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Institute of Creative Arts seeks to empower artists and artistes through training for specific occupational roles in the creative sector. The academic units in the institute include the National School of Dance, the E.R Burrowes School of Arts, the National School of Music, and the National School of Theatre Arts and Drama.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Locals in the creative sector have been making the spotlights on the international scene. These include Award winning US-based Guyanese filmmaker, writer and director Mason Richards and Filmmaker Yaphet Jackman to name a few.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://dpi.gov.gy/government-ready-to-support-creative-industries/\">http://dpi.gov.gy/government-ready-to-support-creative-industries/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 635, 644, 'und', 0, '<p>Incoming President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Justice Adrian Saunders Thursday night declared that the inconsistent application of the rule of law in Guyana is a major barrier to the country becoming the most prosperous country in the region.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Delivering a presentation on the topic “The Rule of Law and the Caribbean Court of Justice” at the&nbsp;University of Guyana’s 4th Conversation on Law and Society, he said Guyana- a “very beautiful country blessed with enormous riches and a wonderful creative people” could only become prosperous if the rule of law is applied properly.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“The only thing that stands between you and prosperity is the consistent and thorough application of the rule of law. If, like any other country in the Caribbean you can get this right, but particularly Guyana- because you have these enormous riches-if you can get that right, then this country will be a shining light for all of CARICOM (Caribbean Community),” he said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Justice Saunders lamented the state of the Caribbean’s criminal justice system, saying it threatens the rule of law due to insufficient investigations and limited forensic proof that result in the freeing of perpetrators. Another major stumbling block he cited was the “inordinate lengths of time” that prisoners are on remand awaiting trial. Reflecting on 2013 statistics that shows that 35 percent of Guyana’s prison population was on pretrial detention, he called that “very high” although Trinidad and Tobago, with more judges and magistrates than Guyana, remanded prisoners are about 60 percent of the total number of prisoners.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“To my mind, high levels of pretrial detention represent… a serious human rights abuse and this something we need to do something,” he told the audience that was made mostly of members of the legal fraternity who included House Speaker, Dr. Barton Scotland; former House Speaker, Ralph Ramkarran; Chancellor of the Judiciary, Yonette Cummings-Edwards; Chief Justice, Roxane George-Wiltshire; Chief Magistrate, Ann Mc Lennan; former CCJ Judge, Duke Pollard; Law Professor, Harold Lutchman, several High Court Judges, lawyers and senior officers of the Guyana Police Force.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>No government minister or high-profile opposition parliamentarian attended the event that was held at Duke Lodge, Kingston, Georgetown.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Other deficiencies, Justice Saunders identified, include no effective criminal case management system and insufficient mechanisms to serve the “peculiar needs” of women, young girls and vulnerable persons. “We have a criminal justice system in the region that is broken in many countries and tacking it is difficult because it requires the coordination of several different systems, each with its own priorities,” he said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The CCJ President-elect called for the prisons, prosecutorial authorities, police, executive, Bar Association and defence lawyers across the Caribbean to “sit together and be on the same page and agree to a raft of policy proposals that will carry the system forward and that kind of conversation needs to take place among those various stakeholders”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Justice Saunders identified several elements of the rule of law including legal certainty, procedural fairness, access to justice, independent and impartial judiciary, and protection against abuse and arbitrary use of power.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://demerarawaves.com/2018/05/24/caribbean-courts-incoming-president-wants-coordinated-overhaul-of-broken-criminal-justice-system-says-inconsistent-rule-of-law-major-barrier-to-guyanas-prosperity/\">http://demerarawaves.com/2018/05/24/caribbean-courts-incoming-president-wants-coordinated-overhaul-of-broken-criminal-justice-system-says-inconsistent-rule-of-law-major-barrier-to-guyanas-prosperity/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 636, 645, 'und', 0, '<p>The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will have to hand down the highly-anticipated third term decision by July 3, the day that the court’s President, Sir Dennis Byron retires from office, Justice Adrian Saunders, the President-Designate said last night.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Saunders made this pronouncement to reporters shortly after making a presentation on `The rule of law and the Caribbean Court of Justice’ at the fourth conversation of law and society, organised by the University of Guyana. Senior judicial officials, lawyers, law students, policemen and members of civil society were among those in attendance at the event which was held at Duke Lodge.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>During his presentation, the St. Vincent and the Grenadines native did not make any mention of the case. He later explained to reporters that given that Sir Dennis was among the judges who heard the matter, judgment has to be delivered before he demits office.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The case was heard on March 12, 2018.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Trinidad-based final court, will pronounce definitively on the challenge mounted to term limits by private citizen Cedric Richardson, thereby ending speculation about another run for office by former two-term president Bharrat Jagdeo. Jagdeo has distanced himself from the case and has repeatedly said he has no interest in running for a third term. However, he is now the Opposition Leader and General Secretary of the PPP/C. It is that party’s General Secretary who has traditionally been its presidential nominee.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The PPP has also distanced itself from Richardson, who has kept himself away from any public scrutiny.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The State had appealed decisions by both the Supreme Court and the Guyana Court of Appeal in favour of Richardson, who in the run-up to the 2015 general elections had challenged restrictions created by amendments to Article 90 of the Constitution that were enacted in 2001 after the bipartisan Constitution reform process.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>His argument had been that Act No 17 of 2001, which was passed by a two-third majority of all elected members of the National Assembly to effect the term-limits, “unconstitutionally curtails and restricts” his sovereign and democratic rights&nbsp;and freedom as a qualified elector “to elect the person of former president Bharrat Jagdeo” as executive president.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The amended Article 90 of the Constitution states at Clause 2(a) that a person elected as president after the year 2000 “is eligible for re-election only once” and at Clause (3) that a person who acceded to the presidency after the year 2000 and served therein on a single occasion for not less than such period as may be determined by the National Assembly “is eligible for election as president only once.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>On July 9th, 2015, former Acting Chief Justice Ian Chang declared that the presidential term-limit was unconstitutional without the approval of the people through a referendum. In February, 2017 former acting Chancellor Carl Singh, and now retired Justice B S Roy dismissed the state’s appeal to Justice Chang’s ruling. Dissenting was then acting Chief Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In a more than six-hour long hearing before the CCJ, attorneys for the State had argued that amendments to effect the presidential term limit were done in accordance with the Constitution, even as those representing the challenger maintained that a referendum was required and that the two-term restriction is unlawful.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>While Trinidadian Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes for Richardson told the court that the amendments could only be effected via a referendum, Attorney General Basil Williams in his address had said that the change is done by the elected representatives of the people in the National Assembly.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/guyana/05/25/third-term-decision-to-be-handed-down-by-july-3rd/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/guyana/05/25/third-term-decision-to-be-handed-down-by-july-3rd/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 637, 646, 'und', 0, '<p>My Artist in Residence involvement with the University of Guyana has produced some very fulfilling exchanges, some of which I had expected but there were some surprises which I’ve mentioned before. One of them, as a result of some whim that I can’t recall, was a poem I wrote, after an exchange with some Turkeyen students, entitled We come here to shine, and sent to Vice Chancellor Ivelaw Griffith.&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Ever an instigator, the VC promptly suggested that I put the poem to music, which I promptly did, but since the song has to be sung by a student, the Deputy VC, Dr. Paloma Martin, located a young lady, Diana Chapman, to tackle that part.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The next step was for Diana to record the song, but some technical problems, including equipment malfunction at the studio, got in the way.&nbsp; However the project is going forward, with the equipment fixed, and the plan now is to get the recording done during the upcoming week.&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Diana is a good vocalist and will sing it in her style, with a drum track of her choice, but to get the interest going I am including here the lyrics of the song:</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come here to shine&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>(Copyright Dave Martins 2018)</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>(Verse 1)</strong></p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come with our intentions strong</p>\r\n\r\n<p>to prove that yes we do belong</p>\r\n\r\n<p>to do the work and toe the line</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come here to shine</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come to learn and to prepare</p>\r\n\r\n<p>we see the future very clear</p>\r\n\r\n<p>the time for us is waiting there</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Yes we come here to shine</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>(Chorus)</strong></p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come here from Supenaam, Lusignaan, New Amsterdam</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come from Kingston and Backdam</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come here to shine</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come here from LBI</p>\r\n\r\n<p>from Rosignol and from Annai</p>\r\n\r\n<p>from Uitvlugt and Karasabai</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come here to shine</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>(Verse 2)</strong></p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come from logee on the ground</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Or bottom house in Albouystown</p>\r\n\r\n<p>But we won’t let that get us down</p>\r\n\r\n<p>‘Cause we come here to shine</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We know how hungry belly feel</p>\r\n\r\n<p>And why some people turn and steal</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We see the wrongs we need to heal</p>\r\n\r\n<p>So we come here to shine</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>(Chorus)</strong></p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come here from Supenaam, Lusignaan, New Amsterdam</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come from Kingston and Backdam</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come here to shine</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come here from LBI</p>\r\n\r\n<p>From Black Bush Polder, from Annai,</p>\r\n\r\n<p>From Buxton and Karasabai</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come here to shine</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>(Verse 3)</strong></p>\r\n\r\n<p>Dont talk to me ‘bout separate</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come here to congregate</p>\r\n\r\n<p>and help each other stand up straight</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come here to shine</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We know it’s not an easy time</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We know we have to bear the grind</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We’re here to seek and yes to find</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come here to shine</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>(Chorus)</strong></p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come here from Supenaam, Golden Grove, New Amsterdam</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come from Linden and Backdam</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come here to shine</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come here from LBI</p>\r\n\r\n<p>from Providence and from Annai</p>\r\n\r\n<p>from Uitvlugt and Karasabai</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come here to shine</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come here from Adventure</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Vreed en Hoop and Parika</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come here from Bartica</p>\r\n\r\n<p>We come here to shine</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/sunday/so-it-go/05/27/we-come-here-to-shine/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/sunday/so-it-go/05/27/we-come-here-to-shine/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 638, 647, 'und', 0, '<p><em>- In progress: Rendering of the building that will be Guyana’s first degree program in clinical psychology at the University of Guyana.</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p>A Queens-based charity organization is partnering with the University of Guyana to create Guyana’s first clinical psychology program and school next year. The Jay and Sylvia Sobhraj Foundation, founded by Jay Sobhraj — a principal at Zara Realty, are establishing a degree psychology program to address mental health in the country, and help train more psychologists. Last year the institution reached out to the foundation about creating the program and being known for their philanthropy — they wanted to help, said a director at the foundation.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Guyana has a serious mental health crisis so when the university approached us and wanted some help — we began talks in terms of building a facility that would have organizations to focus on mental health,” said Nardeo Singh. “This school is a unique approach to get a few things right and make a difference for Guyana.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The South American country has only six psychologists with doctorate degrees. But with the creation of this program, that number will gradually increase as more qualified and trained therapists are trained, according to Singh.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He adds that there is also somewhat of crisis of in the psychology field in Guyana, where the services of the existing doctors are very hard to access. And the therapists who are available and accessible, are usually not equipped to diagnose the mental health concerns.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“There are not many certified clinical psychologists in country, so if someone is trying to get psychological help his or her chances are very slim,” said Singh. “Meanwhile, there’s a lot of domestic violence abuse and undiagnosed kids suffering with autism that need help, and the social workers that try to treat these patients are not really qualified.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>By investing in the creation of a clinical degree program, the university and the foundation will drastically help close the existing gap and help improve the quality of mental healthcare in Guyana. And Singh says both the school and the organization will benefit from the partnership, but most importantly the citizens of Guyana.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>A two-year degree program for clinical psychology started earlier this year and is housed temporarily in the university. Four-year degree program students pursuing bachelors and masters, will be admitted when the construction of the new building for psychology is completed by 2019, and that will be the permanent location for both programs.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The new building will have four state of the art lecture halls, a bookstore, a food court, medical and psychology clinics, a gym, and other faculty offices, according to Jay Sobhraj.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He said there will also be religious worshipping houses for practicing students.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“The building will be over 10,000 square feet, so in addition to the lecture halls, we’re also having three houses, one each for Hindu, Christian, and Muslim students,” he said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The University of Guyana has more than 15,000 students enrolled, and the student capacity of the program is expected to accept more than 1,000 students.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Sobhraj said that while there are varying degrees of mental health issues that need to be tackled in Guyana, one of their focal points they are passionate about is ensuring the country’s most vulnerable are prioritized.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“We want to help the children of Guyana and we are hoping for the best, which is why we are very committed to this program and investing in it,” he said. “I feel like children are cheated out of life and are not getting properly diagnosed due to their parents lack of understanding and not knowing why their child may be like this. But we would like to see this benefit children a lot, and I’d like to see counselors in schools in Guyana.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The school will open during the second semester of the 2019 school year.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.caribbeanlifenews.com/stories/2018/5/cl-mental-health-program-in-guyana-via-queens-2018-05-25-q.html\">https://www.caribbeanlifenews.com/stories/2018/5/cl-mental-health-program-in-guyana-via-queens-2018-05-25-q.html</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 639, 648, 'und', 0, '<p>While expressing his desire to make the Department of Law an independent faculty, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana (UG) Professor Ivelaw Griffith said last Thursday that a review of the unit’s operations will be done as part of planned institutional strengthening.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Griffith made the disclosure while giving closing remarks at the Fourth Conversation on Law and Society, which was hosted by UG at Duke Lodge, in Georgetown.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Many colleagues in the room are going to be approached over the next few months as we start an exercise at the University of Guyana to review our Department of Law. We want to be able to strengthen what our Department of Law does,” he explained.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Griffith stressed that his desire is to have an independent Faculty of Law. “We want to be able to look at what we do, how we do it, what are the resources needed to strengthen it, the scholarship, the Moot Court preparation, all the elements. So we have started the first part of the process …a self-study to understand who we are, where we are, what we have in the Department,” he said, while adding that the Improved Access to Justice in the Caribbean (IMPACT Justice) project, which is funded by the Government of Canada, has agreed to lead the review team.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>It is unclear whether this move is part of the university’s response to government’s plan to establish a law school. UG has already allocated 10 acres of land to serve as the site for the proposed JOF Haynes Law School.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/guyana/05/27/ug-law-depts-operations-for-review/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/guyana/05/27/ug-law-depts-operations-for-review/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 640, 649, 'und', 0, '<p>The University of Guyana is slated to get a new, modern library, with funding from the Caribbean Development Bank (CBD), the Government and the University finalized technical aspects of the project. In a statement Wednesday, the Ministry of Finance said the library will be a “gender-responsive, socially-inclusive and environmentally resilient facility.” The Ministry said the CDB had approved US$149,985.00 in grant funding for the project, while the Government and the University will contribute approximately US$26, 000. The funding will go towards the preparation of final designs and cost estimates. The new library will be situated on a plot of land west of the current library.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The agreement for the project was signed on Tuesday by Minister of Finance Winston Jordan, President of the CDB Dr. Warren Smith and the Vice Chancellor of the University Dr. Ivelaw Griffith. The Ministry of Finance noted that over the years, UG has had difficulty accessing funds to maintain the present library, its other buildings or to construct newer buildings to cope with its ballooning student population.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Despite this, the Ministry stated that the University had made incremental changes to the library including the removal and disposal of asbestos from certain areas and the rewiring of the building. But these improvements still left the library with other infrastructural challenges. “The infrastructural enhancement project which will begin immediately will be implemented by UG through the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Planning and International Engagement. “A Project Steering Committee (PSC) will have responsibility for the coordination and overall guidance of the project,” the Ministry stated.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Minister Jordan, Dr. Griffith and other senior functionaries of the Ministry of Finance are currently attending the 48th Board of Governors meeting in Grenada. The Ministry noted that the partnership between Guyana and the CDB most recently resulted in an agreement by the Bank to lend its resources with that of the United Kingdom/Caribbean Infrastructure Fund (UKCIF) to fund the waterfront renewal in Georgetown; upgrade the first phase of the Linden to Lethem Highway; and construct a bridge across the Essequibo River at Kurupukari.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Ministry said too that the CDB has also committed an estimated US$6.145 M to the 9th&nbsp;Cycle of the Basic Needs Trust Fund, which will be expended on projects and activities that contribute to inclusive and sustainable economic growth, reduce poverty in poor and rural communities, improve access to critically-needed services.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://newsroom.gy/2018/05/30/ug-to-get-new-modern-library/\">https://newsroom.gy/2018/05/30/ug-to-get-new-modern-library/</a></u></p>\r\n\r\n<div>&nbsp;</div>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html');
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('news', 0, 641, 650, 'und', 0, '<p>Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan on Tuesday signed a Technical Assistance Grant with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for the infrastructural enhancement of the University of Guyana’s library. On March 1st this year, the University of Guyana (UG) and the CDB had signed a separate agreement on the initiative. A release from the Ministry of Finance yesterday said that other signatories to the agreement were President of the CDB Dr Warren Smith, and the Vice Chancellor of UG, Dr Ivelaw Griffith.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The US$149,985 ($31.4m)&nbsp; grant was approved by the Board of Directors of the CDB at its Annual meeting held in March this year. It will finance a comprehensive assessment of, and prepare final designs and scost estimates for the construction of a modern, “gender-responsive, socially-inclusive and environmentally resilient facility”. This grant will also help to&nbsp;&nbsp; tackle the adequacy and suitability of the current infrastructure. The new library will be sited on a plot of land west of the current library. The Government of Guyana and UG will contribute approximately US$26,000 towards the full realization of the project. Over the years, the release noted that UG has had difficulty accessing funds to maintain the present library, its other buildings and to build newer buildings to accommodate&nbsp; its growing student population. Despite this, the release said that UG has made incremental changes to the library including the removal and disposal of asbestos from certain areas in 2009; the building of a fire escape in 2010; the renovation of the roof of the new wing of the library and the grilling of windows in the general reading room in 2012; the rewiring of the library in 2015 and the physical upgrade of the learning resource centre in 2017. However, the release said that the library still suffers from infrastructural challenges and weaknesses in staff capacity.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The infrastructural enhancement project which will start immediately will be executed by UG through the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Planning and International Engagement. A Project Steering Committee will have responsibility for the coordination and overall guidance of the project. In March, when the UG/CDB agreement was clinched, UG&nbsp; Librarian, Gwyneth George said the new building will have a layout which caters for both collaborative and independent spaces She explained that in designing the building UG will focus on incorporating technology in such a way that both a space for learning and creating will be realized.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/guyana/05/31/govt-signs-on-to-cdb-grant-for-ug-library/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/guyana/05/31/govt-signs-on-to-cdb-grant-for-ug-library/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 642, 651, 'und', 0, '<p><em>“From Ashes We Rise” is the latest in the series of exhibitions from the University of Guyana’s Creative Arts Division located in the Department of Language and Cultural Studies. Philbert Gajadhar is a foremost national Guyanese artist and a lecturer at the University of Guyana. He is a former Head of Department. The exhibition opened at The National Gallery of Art, Castellani House, on May 28 and it continues until June 16, 2018.</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p>Usually at this time of the year, after end-of-semester examinations—the lull after the storm—exhibitions from the University of Guyana (UG) come with a clash of palettes; who’s good, who’s bad, who’s in and who’s out. The buzz this time is over the experimental work done by young women artists and the fact that the University of Guyana is becoming the happening place for art that attempts to deal with the complexity and tensions of societies in transition.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>If one were to point out some features that distinguish the works of contemporary Guyanese artists, one would mention the renewed interest in folk motifs and a certain self-consciousness about form and representation. The young artists in this exhibition are taking a new look at the very concept of abstraction, the essence of an object or a thought or a feeling; if it means an absence of figure, then it is an exploration of both a presence (which is not seen but felt) and an absence. Added to this is the element of self-scrutiny, a post-modernist accent as against a modernistic rigidity, a denial of the ulterior aim or virtue in art, and an abandonment that brings the student artists close to their individual ideas and thoughts.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Of the eight artists representing the University of Guyana, Elodie Cage-Smith, final-year student and our featured artist, stands apart both by her seniority and her choice of medium and themes. The others are younger, with Keeta Robertson, Chelsea Ramotar and Rayann Darrel in their third year of studies; Keisha Beharry and Alvina Naughton in their second year and Shaquana Cummings and Akeena Mendonca in their first year.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Cage-Smith’s paintings assume expansive, visually complex abstractions. Turquoise features prominently in her work to elicit the calm and volatility of the Caribbean Sea. Her application of colour embodies her notion of what is worn by Caribbean people – not as clothing, but what is in the heart. She points out that while traditional African and Indian prints are strikingly different, the colours are often the same. Her compositions also integrate found objects from Martinique beaches which texture and intricate her canvases. Scrutiny of her work often reveals fragments of rope, mesh, cardboard, fishers’ net, sea glass, and bois flotté.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“I’ve always been drawn to objects that travel,” she says, “because the ocean will ultimately reject them.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Her new collection which forms and supports her thesis ‘From Ashes We Rise’, explores and symbolises a culture that has been burnt and destroyed in the past by slavery and oppression. The ashes, in particular, represent what remains from what was lost and can never be regained. Cage-Smith says, “The ashes represent us the descendants of slaves, indentured labourers and other historically oppressed people.” Essentially, she wants this collection to be about hope, which is how the name of this exhibition was arrived at: out of darkness and pain she sees the emergence and progress of a society full of light and colours. She chose to look at the general theme of the Caribbean rather than simply Guyana so as not to have to choose or deny the importance of the two cultures which she straddles. She has included an art performance piece which came about as a collaboration with another aspiring artist, Khadijah Carberry. The collaboration was initially an abstract exploration of how the artistic impulse unfolds, it quickly grew and unfolded into a piece that not only explored this but also became a part of the collection ‘From Ashes We Rise’.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Set in a different time slot, Robertson’s works weave the same pattern of nostalgia for a time past.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Darrell’s canvas is interactive, with irregular patterns and a heightened colour scheme.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Ramotar has gone through a series of transformations and transmutations to become a symbol of, and a statement on, the condition of innocence of our time.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Beharry’s works are representative of a deeper mystery of life and a source of strength and power.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>A moment of drama unfolds in Naughton’s work, where figures seem to be fighting out an existentialist battle.&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Cummings and Mendonca are exploring their own language in painting.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>This display of art by students of the University of Guyana is representative of the production of an entire younger generation, who have grown up attuned to the sort of intensive media coverage that now inspires them to speak – beyond any irreconcilable cultural peculiarities – in a universal language.</p>\r\n\r\n<h4><strong>Elodie Cage-Smith</strong></h4>\r\n\r\n<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"mr-10\" src=\"https://s1.stabroeknews.com/images/2018/06/Elodie-Cage-Smith.jpg\" style=\"height: 150px; width: 112px; float: left;\" /><img alt=\"\" class=\"ml-10\" src=\"https://s1.stabroeknews.com/images/2018/06/Caribbean-Empire.jpg\" style=\"width: 120px; height: 150px; float: right;\" />Featured Artist Elodie Cage-Smith is a fine artist living and working in Georgetown. She grew up in Le François, Martinique where her creative interests were first explored at L’institut Régional d’Art Visuel de la Martinique. Her early exposure to fashion, painting, and interior design inspired her to start a small design business in Martinique where she would often paint murals at clients’ homes. Cage-Smith went on to study languages at the University of the Southern Caribbean in Trinidad and Tobago before settling in Guyana in 2010. She decided to hone her painting skills by enrolling at the E R Burrowes School of Art for the Diploma in Painting, where she refined her use of colour, perspective and composition. She subsequently moved to the University of Guyana to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art. She majors in Painting and experiments with large dark surfaces and unexpected materials.&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Since she has been in Guyana, Cage-Smith’s artistic practice has matured, influenced by the country’s rich history, diversity, and its inimitable relationship with the rest of the Caribbean. Her recent work is a reflective thesis that artfully blends her understanding of the Caribbean’s collective dark past with a relatively sanguine future.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The theme of her current suite of works is ‘Beauty From Ashes’. Her intention is to use visual art to express the rich history of the Caribbean, since she feels that, “Our dark but rich history is the canvas upon which the kaleidoscopically diverse culture of our beautiful Caribbean has been painted”. She pursues this theme through important elements in her work which include using black to symbolize the dark past of the Caribbean yet using a wide range of colours and shapes to symbolize its rich cross-cultural diversity, and gold its wealth. In the same vein, she uses turquoise to represent the magnetic attraction of the Caribbean Sea as well as the limitless opportunities it affords.</p>\r\n\r\n<h4><strong>Rayann Darrell</strong></h4>\r\n\r\n<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"mr-10\" src=\"https://s1.stabroeknews.com/images/2018/06/Rayann-Darrell.jpg\" style=\"width: 144px; height: 150px; float: left;\" /></p>\r\n\r\n<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"ml-10\" src=\"https://s1.stabroeknews.com/images/2018/06/Carribean-symphony.jpg\" style=\"height: 150px; width: 109px; float: right;\" />Rayann Darrell first studied at the E R&nbsp;Burrowes School of Art where she graduated with the Permanent Secretary Award. She subsequently successfully completed an Associate of Arts Degree at the University of Guyana, where she is currently a third-year student in the Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree programme. She says, “I have always had a love and passion for art since I was a child. My one true dream is to use my art to inspire the uninspired.”&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<h4><strong>Keeta Robertson</strong></h4>\r\n\r\n<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"mr-10\" src=\"https://s1.stabroeknews.com/images/2018/06/Keeta-Robertson.jpg\" style=\"width: 100px; height: 150px; float: left;\" /><img alt=\"\" class=\"ml-10\" src=\"https://s1.stabroeknews.com/images/2018/06/Through-the-journey.jpg\" style=\"width: 110px; height: 150px; float: right;\" />Third-year student Keeta Robertson speaks of art in the sense of serenity as an expression of the inner soul at peace. This is through the diversity of creative applications. Robertson hails from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and she intends that her body of work will embrace and represent the journey that Africans travelled and the everyday struggles they endured during their migration to the islands.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<h4><strong>Chelsea Ramotar</strong></h4>\r\n\r\n<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"mr-10\" src=\"https://s1.stabroeknews.com/images/2018/06/chelsea-ramotar.jpg\" style=\"width: 112px; height: 150px; float: left;\" /><img alt=\"\" class=\"ml-10\" src=\"https://s1.stabroeknews.com/images/2018/06/The-Return-Home-450x300.jpg\" style=\"width: 225px; height: 150px; float: right;\" />Chelsea Ramotar said she felt the need to make a change after the last exhibition in which she participated (UG’s “Aspects of&nbsp;Perception: the Renaissance” in 2017 at the Umana Yana).&nbsp; She felt “as though nothing was going the way it was expected to and as a result the path became blurry”.&nbsp; She had been majoring in Painting,&nbsp;but she then switched her attention to Sculpture. This gave her new life: “I believe the body of work I produced this semester exemplifies this new attitude. Much like my altered mindset, the media used for each piece were… repurposed. The chips of wood or the sawdust could have easily been discarded but instead, they were transformed into something new and meaningful.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<h4><strong>Alvina Naughton</strong></h4>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"mr-10\" src=\"https://s1.stabroeknews.com/images/2018/06/Alvina-Naughton.jpg\" style=\"width: 111px; height: 150px; float: left;\" /><img alt=\"\" class=\"ml-10\" src=\"https://s1.stabroeknews.com/images/2018/06/Solitude.jpg\" style=\"width: 206px; height: 150px; float: right;\" />Alvina Naughton graduated with a BSc from UG&nbsp;in 2005, but her deep need to create led her to abandon a possible career in International Relations. After her first degree, she resided in Belgium with her family during which she travelled throughout Europe where she became acquainted with the&nbsp;works of Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Piscasso and other old masters of art. She returned to Guyana and subsequently enrolled in the BA Art Programme and is currently at the end of her second year. Naughton works primarily with clay, expressing the vulnerability of the female form in her pieces. Other media include acrylic painting, and drawing.&nbsp;She also possesses a penchant for activism through art, creating works which highlight the perpetual evils of domestic violence on the psyche of women. Within this genre, her work has evolved to women’s empowerment through visual arts, focusing primarily on encouraging women to overcome despite their circumstances. She says, “Before this journey, Art had basically been a suppressed passion of mine. It took two decades for me to truly embrace my first love and now the possibilities are endless.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<h4><strong>Keisha Beharry</strong></h4>\r\n\r\n<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"mr-10\" src=\"https://s1.stabroeknews.com/images/2018/06/Keisha-Beharry.jpg\" style=\"width: 179px; height: 150px; float: left;\" /><img alt=\"\" class=\"ml-10\" src=\"https://s1.stabroeknews.com/images/2018/06/Irony-of-sinking.jpg\" style=\"width: 100px; height: 150px; float: right;\" />Keisha Beharry’s life has been&nbsp;transformed through art. She reveals, “I have learned what is life with a chronic invisible disorder, and art has provided an inexplicably vast and deep&nbsp;escape, oblivion, healing process, peace and all the while and somehow moulding me to be kinder and empathetic. It is because of art that I have loved, helped and grown.” She credits the UG Art Programme with making a positive change in her life: “From my first class at the University of Guyana, my life transformed through art… Comparing my personal identity and artistic identity from the time of the previous student exhibition to this one, I’m immeasurably different.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<h4><strong>Shaquana Cummings</strong></h4>\r\n\r\n<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"mr-10\" src=\"https://s1.stabroeknews.com/images/2018/06/Shaquana-Cummings.jpg\" style=\"width: 120px; height: 150px; float: left;\" /></p>\r\n\r\n<p><img alt=\"ml-10\" src=\"https://s1.stabroeknews.com/images/2018/06/A-Stroll-Under-the-Sea.jpg\" style=\"width: 256px; height: 150px; float: right;\" />The work of Shaquana Cummings adds a surreal dimension to the exhibition. Quite aware of this, she declares, “Abstract and surrealism have always been my favoured works of art because of their effortless way of twisting reality and creating new worlds.” Not surprisingly, she argues, “Reality is overrated and sometimes we need a getaway from it. I believe that through my art viewers are given the opportunity to understand how limitless the imagination really could be and to freely create their own views and stories without being&nbsp;criticized.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/sunday/arts-on-sunday/06/03/from-ashes-we-rise/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/sunday/arts-on-sunday/06/03/from-ashes-we-rise/</a></u></p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<div>&nbsp;</div>\r\n', '', 'full_html'),
('news', 0, 643, 652, 'und', 0, '<p>THE University of Guyana (UG) is currently mourning the loss of its first Deputy Vice Chancellor (VC), Professor Harold A. Drayton who died on Sunday, March 11, 2018, in Gaithersburg Maryland, United States of America.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>On the occasion of the passing of this distinguished academician, who was instrumental in the establishment of the University of Guyana (UG), the university on May 23 last, held a Solemn Assembly to honour his memory and celebrate the contributions of Prof. Drayton to university education in Guyana. The venue was the George Walcott Lecture Theatre on the University’s Turkeyen Campus.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Leading the Programme was Dr Nigel Gravesande, Registrar; Call to Order was done by Major General (ret’d) Joseph Singh after which one minute of silence was observed in his honour</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Among other items on a packed agenda were: The Homily by Prof. Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith, CCH, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Guyana; a Poem – Looking at your Hands, by Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Mr Calvin Bernard; Reflections by Prof. Ken Danns; Father Malcolm Rodrigues SJ; and Dr Vonna-Lou Drayton, wife of the late distinguished professor. Prof. Emerita Joycelynne Loncke offered a choice musical rendition, Song without Words.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Acknowledging the erstwhile contributions of the late, great First Deputy Vice Chancellor, VC Ivelaw Griffith, on this solemn occasion, made the announcement that UG is moving to memorialise the legacy of Prof. Drayton in several ways, one of which is to name and identify an edifice in his honour.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Vice-Chancellor said that the university has already begun the process to do this and will, in time, announce the edifice and hold a symbolic renaming – perhaps on the date of his birth, August 20. Prof. Griffith said the university owes it to Prof. Drayton and others who continue to do good works.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He said that not only was Prof. Drayton part of a team with a dream for soaring the university to great heights, but a key member of the ‘Let’s Do It’ team, and one who laboured in the vineyard of the UG.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Reflecting on conditions that prevailed on the university campus in the early 60s and the difficulties faced by lecturers and students alike, to secure spots (accommodation) in classrooms on the campus before others, Prof. Griffith acknowledged that nevertheless, there was a pioneer gaiety. “The spirit of camaraderie and sharing among staff and among students was evident and Deputy Vice Chancellor Drayton constituted a key element in that pioneering mix,” he recalled.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Describing the University in 1963 as an act of faith, Prof. Griffith conceded that faith without works is dead and said that this is where Dr Drayton’s faith came alive.</p>\r\n\r\n<h4><strong>TEAM PLAYER&nbsp;</strong></h4>\r\n\r\n<p>Meanwhile, Professor Ken&nbsp;Danns, in his opening sentences, lauded Prof. Harold Drayton’s contribution to the University of Guyana, eulogising him as an example of a true son of the soil and activist committed to social justice; a scientist, a lecturer, an academic administrator who placed the foundation for the development of UG and later became its first Deputy Vice Chancellor and Vice Principal.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Noting that the University of Guyana is fully home-grown he acknowledged that Prof. Drayton was the pioneer/founder of the uniquely indigenous institution – the first university reputed at the time, as being the only ‘Higher Educational Institution’ in all the English-speaking territories of Africa, Asia and the Caribbean created by colonial people.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He credited this outstanding academician with a passion for the university and the students he nurtured, as ‘a servant-leader and a team-player,” but one who never consciously sought to stand out from the crowd. To this end, he submitted: “Dr. Drayton stood out from the crowd and should be honoured because he was a pioneer from creation in the institutionalisation of UG. He should be loved because he was a classy and charismatic scholar, giving his best to his students. He gave his best to the university and to his family.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He portrayed Prof. Drayton as one who was, and modelled what a university professor should be. He likened him to a symbol of knowledge and a figure of authority.<br />\r\nProf. Danns admitted that it was under Prof. Drayton’s s tutelage that he had learnt to think critically, adding that it has stayed with him since. It was here that he purposed in his heart that he, too, would become a university professor … and in time, that dream was realised.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Concluding on a sombre note, Prof. Danns declared: “Celebrating Dr Harold Drayton here today, is remembering our noble past and humble origin at the university; our pioneering role and uniqueness at the indigenous institution of higher education in the world. Harold Drayton epitomised what excellent scholarship is.”</p>\r\n\r\n<h4><strong>ALWAYS HELPFUL</strong></h4>\r\n\r\n<p>Meanwhile, Father Malcolm Rodrigues SJ eulogised Prof. Drayton as one with an abiding interest in offering help to students needing help. “I must say that my memory of him is of a person who always made himself available to help those students who needed help – whether they were doing a labour or were having difficulties with the sciences, he would go over and be at their disposal.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“I will definitely miss him and he will be missed by the students since he was trying to keep them at a certain level of intellectualism. In a real sense I think his memory will live on in that way,” Father Rodrigues concluded.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Meanwhile, widow of the Prof. Harold Drayton, Dr Vonna-Lou Drayton, amidst pain of loss of a wonderful husband, mustered up strength and courage, declaring with a sense of pride: “The creation of UG has been the crowning glory of Harry’s career and our presence today shows that we did prosper and prevail.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Dr. Lou Drayton noted that generations of Guyanese (including herself), have undoubtedly benefitted from the presence of the university and many more will continue to do so. And even though he left in 1972 to toil on distant shores, his love for UG and the joy he felt on the evening of Tuesday October 1, 1963 during the inaugural meeting, resonated throughout his life.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Prof. Harold Drayton, his wife said, continued to make significant contributions to UG, especially the Faculty of Health Sciences. “He had a passion for humanity and a real better world,” she said, adding, “My husband Harry did not just exist, he lived life to the fullest. Those who knew him personally can attest to the exuberance with which he embraced life to the very end.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>On May 24, the couple would have celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary. Said Dr Vonna-Lou Drayton, “His passing has left a deep void, but the joyful memories of our life together are very comforting. Harry was a good man and a wonderful husband and I am a better person for sharing the past 20 years with him.<br />\r\nDr Lou Drayton thanked the University of Guyana community for embracing and supporting her and family.</p>\r\n\r\n<h4><strong>OBITUARY</strong></h4>\r\n\r\n<p>Dr Drayton, born on August 20, 1929 in Georgetown, British Guiana, was educated at Queen’s College in Guyana and at the University of Edinburgh where he completed a doctorate on cancer virology, while serving as the first President of the Federation of West Indian Student Unions of the United Kingdom.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He began his distinguished career as a high school teacher in Grenada and Jamaica in the late 1950s. In 1962 he became a lecturer in Zoology at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana when he was recruited by Dr Cheddi Jagan, then Prime Minister of British Guiana, to establish the country’s first university.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He graduated with a BSc (Honours) in 1958 and a PhD. in 1960 from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. His doctoral research in the Biological Sciences focused on the properties of Cancer Inducing viruses.<br />\r\nHe studied and worked overseas for a number of years but on December 31, 1962, at the invitation of Dr Cheddi B. Jagan he returned to what was then British Guiana, to assist in establishing UG.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In October 1963 when the UG was opened, Dr Drayton became the first Guyanese to sit on the administration of the University of Guyana when he was appointed as the first Deputy Vice Chancellor.<br />\r\nDr Drayton also served the University in the capacity of Head of the Biology Department and his initiatives there, such as training of medical technologists, among others would subsequently evolve that department into a full faculty of Health Sciences for the training of health care professionals.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He was head of the University’s Biology Department from 1963 to 1972. During this tenure he introduced curriculum in Social Biology, Caribbean Health Sciences and training for public health professionals. That was widely adopted across the region.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Dr Drayton also served as a Caribbean Regional Adviser in Human Resources Development for the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) in Barbados, and was Director for the Centre for International Health for the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. Throughout his career he served as an adviser, consultant and advocate to UG and Guyana’s Ministry of Health and was a consultant to the Caribbean Community Secretariat.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Dr Drayton is survived by his wife, Dr Vonna-Lou Caleb Drayton, an Epidemiologist and Public Health Specialist at Booz Allen Hamilton in Washington D.C. his daughter Ms Alison Drayton (Falzon) and other relatives.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://guyanachronicle.com/2018/06/03/ug-honours-first-deputy-vc-prof-harold-drayton\">https://guyanachronicle.com/2018/06/03/ug-honours-first-deputy-vc-prof-harold-drayton</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'full_html'),
('news', 0, 644, 653, 'und', 0, '<p>WHEN we hear the term “literature” we most often think of books or other written works. While that definition is correct in a strict sense, literature in the 21st century moves beyond those boundaries to incorporate works across various media. This change was evident in the recent annual presentation of research by students of the University of Guyana’s Department of Language and Cultural Studies’ Special Author or Period course.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"mr-10\" src=\"https://guyanachronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Lit2.jpg\" style=\"width: 125px; height: 150px; float: left;\" />The presentations, under the theme “21st Century Literature” were held this past Monday in the Education Lecture Theatre (ELT) and saw six students putting forward their research findings based on topics ranging from dancehall music and Caribbean film to ‘Game of Thrones’ and oral literature. The floor was opened for questions and comments after each presentation. In his welcome and opening remarks, the course’s lecturer, Mr. Al Creighton, noted that the course is research based. The students, he related, are allowed to select their own subjects for research. “The course has broadened, it has moved and it is the students who have moved it,” he said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>First up was Latoya Rodrigues who presented a thematic analysis of contemporary dancehall music. Acknowledging that dancehall music has a reputation for being vulgar, lewd and violent, Rodrigues related that her research was conducted under the hypothesis that dancehall music can alleviate some of the social ills in our society if more airtime is given to songs of social commentary. While she did come across dancehall songs with positive messages, she related that those songs do not receive the same response and airplay that more mainstream dancehall tracks garner. “The artistes are all aware of their social responsibility but feel compelled to sing the kind of music that is supported by the masses” was among Rodrigues’ findings.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><img alt=\"\" src=\"https://guyanachronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Lit3.jpg\" style=\"width: 125px; height: 150px; float: right;\" />Diana Cruickshank, who also acted as the event’s chair, focused on women in Caribbean films. She noted that, while we as West Indians have no trouble naming Western films, we would find it difficult to name West Indian films. To capture how women are represented in Caribbean cinema, Cruickshank examined the major and minor female characters of five Caribbean films – Dancehall Queen (Jamaica, 1997), Wan Pipel (Suriname, 1976), Blinded (Grenada, 2006), To The Night (Guyana, 2013) and Battledream Chronicle (2016, Martinique), the Caribbean’s first full-length animated feature.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Cruickshank found in her analysis that Caribbean films reflect traditional gender roles for men and women. She pointed out; however, that women in Caribbean films exert resilience and perseverance in the face of adversity and oppression. “We need to change the visual culture of how we present our women of this region, to the rest of the world,” she said in her conclusion. The issue of copyright laws and the importance of protecting intellectual property were among the issues brought up in the questions following Cruickshank’s presentation.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Nadata Caesar Pryce’s presentation was titled “Praise and Conflict: Gospel and Secular Artistes in Collaboration”. Her research focused on the potential conflicts and contradictions that occur when gospel musicians produce songs with secular artists who arguably do not portray a Christian lifestyle. Caesar Pryce guided the audience through the history of gospel music, from its beginnings to contemporary times. In concluding, she questioned the notion that the messenger does not matter as long as the message of the Gospel is sent out and argued that the messenger does, in fact, matter.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“The Presentation of Women in the ‘Game of Thrones’ was the focus of Cristean Peters’ research. Through an analysis of how various female characters in the series are portrayed, Peters established that many female characters in the series are oppressed and subjected to physical and sexual violence. She acknowledged that there are female characters, such as Arya Stark and Brienne of Tarth, who challenge and defy traditional female gender roles. She concluded that, while producers have responded to complaints from female fans about the presentation of women, more needs to be done as TV series such as Game of Thrones have a significant influence on society.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Quanza Patrick’s research focused on the presentation of masculinity in dancehall music. She related that her objective was to show, through keen focus on dancehall music, how masculinity is portrayed by various dancehall artistes. Patrick noted that masculinity in dancehall music is portrayed based on a patriarchal structure. She used music clips from various male dancehall artists to illustrate her point. She proceeded to contrast these portrayals with clips from female dancehall artistes who defy patriarchal structures and assert their sexual independence. Artistes such as Spice and Ishawna, Patrick said, flip the patriarchal discourse.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Wrapping up the evening’s presentations was Donella Edwards with an examination of oral literature as a tool for cultural sustainability. She related that her focus was on sustaining Guyanese culture through oral tradition. “I believe this topic is something that we constantly talk about without actually putting our heads and hands together,” Edwards said of the idea of our cultural sustainability.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>She noted that, based on her interviews with storytellers, oral traditions are dying out and being forgotten. Among the oral traditions that Edwards noted were stories of Anansi and Balgobin, the myths of Ole Higue and Baccoo and queh-queh. She cautioned that oral tradition, a vital part of Guyanese culture, will die out without efforts to preserve and pass it on to the next generation.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://guyanachronicle.com/2018/06/03/discussions-on-21st-century-literature\">https://guyanachronicle.com/2018/06/03/discussions-on-21st-century-literature</a></u></p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n', '', 'full_html'),
('news', 0, 645, 654, 'und', 0, '<p>Come the next academic year, students of the University of Guyana will be exposed to an improved language learning environment with the development of a language lab, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the university and the Chinese Embassy.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>According to Deputy Vice-Chancellor Dr Barbara Reynolds, the purpose of the lab is to create an immersive experience for students involved in learning languages on the campus.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The MoU that was signed yesterday provides the university with a $4,600,000 grant, which will go toward the purchase of equipment, furniture, computers and headsets. According to a release from the university, these items will help to “create a learning environment more effective than traditional classrooms.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The building that will accommodate the lab has already been identified, but reportedly requires some repairs.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Reynolds explained that the lab will allow students—regardless of whether they are formally pursuing a language programme or not—access to a space where they can access television programmes, films, music, newspapers, journals, and other relevant resources, in their language of interest, as well as get together with other language speakers and learners to engage and converse.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“…Back when I was in high school, we didn’t actually speak the language. So, we know the language, we can read it, some of us can even understand, but we weren’t taught to speak the language and the world has moved on from there and so for us, immersion in the language is critical,” Reynolds stated yesterday during the signing ceremony.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Deputy Vice-Chancellor related that the university plans to “reanimate” the language courses that have traditionally been offered, those being French and Spanish; develop their Portuguese and Mandarin programme, and introduce Dutch to the list of courses offered.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Relating a recent interaction involving a representative of Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), who reportedly indicated that Dutch will soon form part of the curriculum, Reynolds said that once that point arrives, the university wants to be prepared to supply teachers at the secondary level that are fluent in the languages being examined.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Also of note, Reynolds indicated that the officials at the School of Dentistry are considering making Spanish or Portuguese a requirement for the programme, so that professionals will be in the position to effectively care for their clients if they are not native English speakers.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Reynolds had noted that while some programmes on campus require a second language, the newly-introduced School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation is the only faculty for which learning a foreign language is currently mandatory.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>She opined that learning a foreign language is critical for Guyanese given not only the country’s geographic location and cultural history (being the only English speaking country in South America), but because it is vital for improving and maintaining foreign relations.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“…The University of Guyana is central to our national development. It’s critical. And so this is one piece of a larger puzzle and I hope that we will be able to put to good use very, very quickly, and that my wish of having every graduate of the University of Guyana speak a second language will be a reality in the not so distant future,” Reynolds stated.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Al Creighton, the university’s Director of Language and Culture Studies echoed Reynolds’ sentiments and stated that there is a national need for language training at the higher level.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“There are a number of areas in different sectors of the economy that require knowledge of another language and the university needs to provide that training at levels above CSEC, levels above CAPE, and so on. I think that the business community of Guyana, the private sector of Guyana, needs to come to terms with this growing need and we are hoping that they will be sensitized to do so,” Creighton weighed in.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“The University of Guyana is the cradle of Guyanese talents…so for the embassy, we are very delighted to contribute to the creation of the new language lab, so as to provide more opportunities for the students of Guyana to be more involved in the national affairs, to be more active in participating in the international activities so that…Guyanese students can communicate more with some other students and teachers in some other parts of the world,” Chen Xilai, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China said yesterday.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Chen, who signed the MoU on behalf of the embassy, stated that their support was a part of the embassy’s commitment to work with the university to improve the Guyana/China relations.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/guyana/06/06/ug-chinese-embassy-sign-4-6m-mou-for-language-lab/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/guyana/06/06/ug-chinese-embassy-sign-4-6m-mou-for-language-lab/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 646, 655, 'und', 0, '<p><strong>- By Al Creighton &amp; Barbara Reynolds</strong></p>\r\n\r\n<h4>O Beautiful Guyana&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<em>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</em></h4>\r\n\r\n<p><em>O beautiful Guyana</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>O my lovely native land</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>More dear to me than all the world</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>Thy sea-washed, sun-kissed strand</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>Or down upon the borders</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>Looking down upon the deep</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>The great Atlantic</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>Blown into a fury or asleep</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>At morn, at noon or better</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>In the crimson sunset’s glow</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>I love thee, Oh I love thee.</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<h4><strong>My Guyana El Dorado&nbsp;-&nbsp;</strong>Walter McA Lawrence</h4>\r\n\r\n<p><em>My Guyana, Eldorado</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>Best of all the world to me</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<div>\r\n<div>\r\n<p><em>In my heart where’er I wander</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>Memory enshrineth thee;</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>All my hopes and aspirations,</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>All my longings only tie</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>Everlasting bonds around us</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>As the fleeting years roll by</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>.My Guyana, time’s unfolding</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>More and more thy destiny,</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>To redeem in lasting splendour</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>All the years had lost to thee;</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<div>\r\n<div>\r\n<p><em>And the dawning of thy glory</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>O’er the long, long night is cast</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>O arise triumphant, glorious</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>,From the ashes of the past.</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>O arise, triumphant, glorious,</em></p>\r\n</div>\r\n</div>\r\n\r\n<div><em>From the ashes of the past. </em></div>\r\n\r\n<div>&nbsp;</div>\r\n\r\n<div><em>by&nbsp;</em>Walter McA Lawrence</div>\r\n</div>\r\n</div>\r\n\r\n<p>These two songs were performed as part of a programme titled ‘Celebration of Poetry, Songs and Stories of Guyana’ on May 22 at the Umana Yana. The production of musical and dramatic items was directed by Barbara Reynolds as a birthday gift to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana to mark the anniversary of independence. It was the second annual show presented to the public for that purpose, having had its inauguration at the same time in 2017.&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The songs very distinctly set the tone of the main theme of the programme, which was designed to celebrate the nation. Dr Reynolds, who is Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana, deliberately shaped the production in that way to conjure up a sense of nationhood and identity. With the assistance of Eze Crandon and Hubert Meusa, the performance ran uninterrupted in sequence without announcements to give a continuous dramatic flow of items that in some way reflected the country, its culture and voices. It was based on folk songs, other folk performances, poems old, familiar and new, and a few stories, but mainly carried by the chorus of very well-known, national songs that rang the dominant resounding note of patriotism.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“O Beautiful Guyana” and “My Guyana El Dorado” were two of those songs. Actually, they are poems which were set to music long after they were published. They belong to the important volume of work written between 1920 and 1942 by one of the foundation Guyanese poets Walter McArthur Lawrence (1896 – 1942).&nbsp; A J Seymour, in his piece, “The Poetry of Walter McA Lawrence” in Kyk-Over-Al Volume 6, 1946 did comment on what he saw as the musical quality in the verses, suggesting that the poet had intention that the poems should be put to music.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>These compositions were performed by singers on Reynolds’ programme. “O Beautiful Guyana” was done by Amanda Reynolds, Riet Amsterdam and E Moore, while “My Guyana El Dorado” was played as an instrumental version by the National Steel Ensemble, which has taken on the mantle of Guyana’s representative steel band.&nbsp; Both compositions had relevant significance to Guyanese poetry when they were written. They were not produced for the purpose to which they have been corralled in contemporary times. Now they are very well known as national patriotic songs, but that was a development after independence.&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Lawrence was the foremost Guyanese poet after Leo (Egbert Martin) who died in 1890.&nbsp; Overwhelmingly, the poets of that era belonged to the English Romantic and Victorian imitative school. However, poets like Lawrence began to develop the modern Guyanese poetry started by the remarkable Leo. Lawrence’s contribution was the developing nationalism in the poetry – a quality that was to endure till post-independence when it took on a new brand.&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Creeping into the poetry in that early era was a sense of belonging to a country – a native identity (that was not lost on Leo, either) which caused the poet to be aware of his national environment.&nbsp; Lawrence’s resulting landscape poetry glorified the beauty of the country – giving epic proportions to the local landscape, as in another poem, “Ode to Kaieteur”. The focus in the landscape is to be noted in most of these poems, but also the identification with and the glorification of the country. This was the kindred spirit that guided the production ‘Celebration of Poetry, Songs and Stories of Guyana’ on May 22.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The production included almost all the national patriotic songs. A list is provided by Petamber Persaud and most of those were performed on the programme.&nbsp; “The Song of Guyana’s Children” was by poet W Hawley Bryant and was sung by Korokwa, a leading folk singing group in Guyana founded by Derek Bernard and continued as a sub-branch of the Woodside Choir. Vere T Daley wrote “Hymn for Guyana’s Children” and that was represented on the programme performed by Derry Etkins and Mervin Kissoon. Cleveland Hamilton was another prominent pre-independence poet who wrote “Song of The Republic”, which was sung by Kellon Rover in this production.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>But the corpus of national patriotic songs continued with the virtual canon, which includes “O Beautiful Guyana” performed by Colwyn Delph. That representation was endless with “To Serve My Country” done by Korokwa, “Beautiful Guyana” interpreted by Eze Crandon and Edwin Moore, and “Let Us Cooperate” performed by the Success School Choir.&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>What has become very famous as an adopted national song and even called the second national anthem is actually a calypso described by its author as “a love of country song”. E Moore, D Moore, I Moore and D Bagot gave their version of “Not A Blade of Grass” by Dave Martins, Visiting Artist in Residence at the University of Guyana, who is himself a national personality as musician and cultural commentator.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Poetry was also a strong part of the proceedings with a few established selections outside of those set to music. There was variety with the inclusion of newer works such as “I Come From” and “I Am a Guyana Woman” read by member of the National Drama Company (NDC), actress Nirmala Narine and another NDC member, outstanding playwright Subraj Singh who read “Cultish” and “Coolie”. These newer poems asserted identity and belonging and added other dimensions.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>National tales further went on to include story-telling. Another NDC member, dancer and designer Esther Hamer performed “Inter-Independence”. Deeper in the folk tradition was acclaimed story-teller Michael Khan as ‘Ol Man Pappy’, who performed an independence story “May 26”, while Carlene Gill-Kerr did “Tell My History”. A distinct departure from the other types of items was the violin solo by Adaeze Lumumba, whose selection was nevertheless in line with all else: “Salute to Guyana”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The wide range of folk songs was inevitable and were performed by various singers. The remaining performers were Omari Austin, Paul Lespoir, Roy Stewart, Royalty, and Dynamic Force. Collectively, they gave a memorable birthday gift whose impact will not fade fast, but from the appearance of things, it will be repeated at independence time each year.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/sunday/arts-on-sunday/06/10/glorifying-guyana-independence-programme-celebrated-nationhood-and-identity/amp/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/sunday/arts-on-sunday/06/10/glorifying-guyana-independence-programme-celebrated-nationhood-and-identity/amp/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html');
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('news', 0, 647, 656, 'und', 0, '<p>On June 1, the University of Guyana (UG) launched its alumni association under the theme Proud Legacy: Prosperous Destiny.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>According to Vice Chancellor Ivelaw Griffith the creation of the association which comes more than 50 years after the opening of UG is part of a renaissance journey to rebuild a university that has for a variety of reasons suffered neglect.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He said that the rebuilding cannot be left to one set of stakeholders and acknowledged alumni as critical to the process.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><iframe src=\"https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FUGPACEAlumni%2Fvideos%2F2020001864679426%2F&width=500&show_text=false&height=281&appId\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowTransparency=\"true\" allow=\"encrypted-media\" allowFullScreen=\"true\"></iframe></p>\r\n\r\n<p>Quoting the former United States President John F. Kennedy, Griffith noted that you can tell the greatness of a university by how its products have contributed to their society before adding that UG’s greatness is not only reflected in alumni contributions to Guyana but also to the Caribbean and the world.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The VC stressed that these amazing products can now help to rebuild the institution and called specifically on those who attended free of cost in the 70s and 80s to honour their obligation to help rebuild the place where they gained so much.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Chancellor Nigel Harris was absent from the launch but sent a message which was read by Pro-Chancellor Joseph Singh. In the message, Harris noted that the launch will be remembered as one of the more important milestones in UG’s history and said that it is important that UG celebrate its alumni and that alumni celebrate UG.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Mobilization of alumni is critical to the realization of UG’s vision of the future, he explained, adding that they can offer the university advocacy in the business community, regional and international agencies, as well as government and civil society to generate support for programmes and projects for its development.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Other possible areas of contribution include mentorship, internships and personal donations.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In the area of personal donations, Harris noted that donor agencies often ask universities what percentage of alumni give back, not how much they give but how many of the alumni support the institution.&nbsp; Working to secure the stature of UG will help alumni when asked to give assurance of the value of their degree, he concluded.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Deputy Vice Chancellor Paloma Mohamed who as the head of the Office of Philanthropy, Alumni and Civic Engagement (PACE) has been at the forefront of efforts to bring the alumni association to reality explained that while UG has populated the world it was a steep, hard climb back into the hearts and trust of alumni .</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“It’s a tremendous job, a lot of hard work to bring people back,” she said, before acknowledging past efforts of those such as Marlene Cox who worked in Alumni relations.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Mohamed explained that the Turkeyen Chapter of the association was the first of five to be launched this year. Berbice is set to be launched on June 27, New York at the end of July, Toronto on July 18 and London later in the year.</p>\r\n', '', 'full_html'),
('news', 0, 648, 657, 'und', 0, '<p>Press Secretary and Television Anchor Malika N. Ramsey sits down with University of Guyana Vice Chancellor Professor Ivelaw Griffith. The two discuss improvements at the University of Guyana In the last two years.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/09jGuheMhmg\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>\r\n', '', 'full_html'),
('event', 0, 649, 658, 'und', 0, '<p>Save the date!....Join us for the 5th Conversation on Law &amp; Society on Thursday June 21 at 6pm.</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('event', 0, 652, 661, 'und', 0, '\r\n<p><strong>Symposium on Boys’ Education</strong></p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Faculty of Education and Humanities at the University of Guyana will be hosting a symposium on boys’education under the theme: “Bridging the Gender Divide – Stemming the Tide of Male Underachievement in the Education System” on the 28-29 June 2018, at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre. This Symposium will be a joint effort between the University, the Ministry of Education, the Commonwealth of Learning, CARICOM, UNICEF and other key stakeholders.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>This event aims to attract a wide cross-section of local, regional and international researchers and decision-makers in an effort to better understand the prevailing issues in relation to boys’ education. Presentations and discussions will cover existing research, best practices, and approaches implemented in various education systems, with a view towards devising strategies to effectively address the issues. As such, the range of related sub-topics to be covered will include but not be limited to:</p>\r\n\r\n<p>1) Boys’ Under-representation and Underperformance&nbsp;<br />\r\n2) Feminisation of Education – the Absent Male Teacher<br />\r\n3) Socialisation of Males – Keeping Boys Out of Risk<br />\r\n4) School Factors and Pedagogical Choices, Gender&nbsp;Disparities<br />\r\n5) Empowerment of Boys</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Presentations will be made by the following persons at the event:</p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>Professor Carl James – York University, Canada</li>\r\n	<li>Professor Barbara Bailey – University of the West Indies, Mona</li>\r\n	<li>Dr&nbsp;Christopher Clarke – Principal, Shortwood Teachers’ College, Jamaica</li>\r\n	<li>Dr&nbsp;Ngogi&nbsp;Chipere – University of the West Indies, Cavehill</li>\r\n	<li>Mr&nbsp;Dennis Gill – University of Guyana</li>\r\n	<li>Mr&nbsp;Shawn Hardnett – Washington DC</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 653, 662, 'und', 0, '<p>Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana (UG) Professor Ivelaw Griffith today lauded the hands-off approach of the current administration, in allowing the unrestricted day-to-day running of the institution.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The VC has been at the helm of the country’s premier tertiary institution for the past two years.&nbsp; He said since assuming that position, there has been no attempt to curtail his work or that of the university by the government; something that had shaped the university for years.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He was speaking to the members of the media at his second media luncheon at the Herdmanston lodge earlier today.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“As an indication of an achievement, sometimes you have to ask yourself not only what has been done, but what has not been done. I have not had a government minister, or the President or Permanent Secretary tell me who to hire, who to admit, who to graduate or who to give a scholarship to,” the VC said today.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>This, he said is testimony that the administration clearly understands it’s role.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“The practising business, as usual, is not in the best interest of the University or the society and that for me is a signally important achievement.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The VC spoke of his meetings with the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Public Telecommunication, Public Health and Education that have been lending support to the University.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“I’m comforted in the support from government entities and non-governmental entities i- moving along,” he said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>A governance task force had already decided that there be no special or partisan interest represented on the university’s council. The Vice Chancellor said changes are occurring at the institution.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://dpi.gov.gy/no-political-interference-at-ug-vice-chancellor/\">http://dpi.gov.gy/no-political-interference-at-ug-vice-chancellor/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 654, 663, 'und', 0, '<p>The University of Guyana (UG) on Tuesday announced that&nbsp; a proposal is on the table for a smaller Council that will be solely responsible for policy while the Vice Chancellor and team will be given greater autonomy to run the institution.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>UG Registrar, Dr. Nigel Gravesande said the Task Force’s proposed removal of political party, legal, medical, private sector, farmers and overseas university representatives from the Council would aim to ensure a “greater level of intellectual autonomy” for the institution.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“The contraction of its membership ought not to be interpreted that sectoral interests would not be taken into consideration, but mechanisms would be put in place to ensure that these interests find their way into the governance operations, whether it is at the level of the Council that they be invited or the Academic Board, for example, to which private sector’s involvement in curriculum review, curriculum refocussing to meet the developmental needs can in fact be catered for,” he told the media.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Registrar explained that the intention is for the Vice Chancellor to enjoy greater autonomy to deal with “operational issues with a mechanism for accountability that is clear” and for the Council to deal with policy matters. “For the last fifty years, one saw an intrusion by the University Council into operational issues&nbsp; of the university; the day-to-day administration,” said Gravesande.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He added that the Vice Chancellor would have to account to the Council at an Annual Business Meeting. He would be required to submit Statements of Account and report on activities.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>For his part, UG Vice Chancellor Professor Ivelaw Griffith brushed aside the question of a possible ‘runaway&nbsp; administration’ that will make major decisions in the absence of Council. “I don’t see the prospect, whether I’m the Vice Chancellor or whoever is the Vice Chancellor, or a runaway Vice Chancellor,” he said, adding that there are other layers of decision-making such as the Academic Board, Finance and General Purposes Committee, and Council of Deans.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He reiterated that advisory boards would be established to support Advisory Boards in faculties “Governance recommendation is that there should be a slimmer governance council focussed on competencies and not special interest representation. That is a significant recommendation to what is proposed as the current governance arrangement,” he said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Vice Chancellor said a two-day meeting of the Governance Committee, which is headed by former UG Vice Chancellor Professor Lawrence Carrington,last week concretised its recommendations that would be contained in a final report to an extraordinary Council meeting scheduled for July 26, 2018.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Vice Chancellor and Head of UG’s Chancellor, Professor Nigel Harris have since met Attorney General, Basil Williams who was presented with a number of recommendations for revamping the University of Guyana Act.&nbsp; A similar meeting was held with Minister of Education, Nicolette Henry.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Under the chairmanship of UG Chancellor, Professor Nigel Harris, a transformation task force has examined the need for revamping the governance structure of the 55-year old tertiary institution whose Act and statutes “have not undergone significant revision”.&nbsp; The Governance Reform Committee, headed by former UG Vice Chancellor Professor Lawrence Carrington, has since submitted a report to the Council that called for wider consultatipon.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://demerarawaves.com/2018/06/12/ug-vice-chancellor-to-have-greater-control-of-ugs-day-to-day-operations-interest-groups-to-be-removed-from-council-if-governance-model-changes/\">http://demerarawaves.com/2018/06/12/ug-vice-chancellor-to-have-greater-control-of-ugs-day-to-day-operations-interest-groups-to-be-removed-from-council-if-governance-model-changes/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 655, 664, 'und', 0, '<p>Under a proposed system of governance, the University of Guyana (UG) is expected to secure a greater level of administrative autonomy, which is set to eliminate special interest groups. Speaking to a gathering of media personnel at Herdmanston Lodge, Queenstown, yesterday, Vice Chancellor Ivelaw Griffith announced that the university is exploring the possibility of self-governance through a “greater level of intellectual autonomy.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>According to the Vice-Chancellor, the recommendations are towards preventing any form of interference by political parties, and other special interest groups into the daily affairs of the University. He noted that several recommendations have been put forward by a special reform committee on governance for the revamp of U.G’s executive structure. The committee, headed by Professor Lawrence Carrington, has proposed a governance model which is for a smaller council and allows the Vice Chancellor and his team greater scope to run the institution.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“The recommendation is that there should be a slimmer council on governance focused on competencies and not special interest representation. That’s a significant modification on what is recommended for change. Also key among the proposals is the recommendation that there should be no partisan political or special interest representation at the University Council. “There should be no ruling party representative or opposition party representative on the Council. The proposals give no legal, medical, private sector, framers and overseas university representatives the right to interfere in the daily management of the institution,” Professor Griffith emphasized.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>According to the Vice-Chancellor, the proposals came as a result of several committee meetings and broader consultations across UG campuses which included the student body and the unions. He dismissed any possibility of arbitrary leadership at UG, since there are other layers of the executive which will be involved in the decision-making process including the Academic Board, Finance and General Purposes Committee, and Council of Deans. Added to that, Professor Griffith said that representatives of the tertiary institution have met with Attorney General Basil Williams to discuss amendments to the legislation, since the Act, and Statues which govern UG have not undergone any significant revision since 1963.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>According to the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Carrington and his team have been working on their final report which will be submitted on July 26 at an extraordinary meeting. The meeting will finalise what the Act should be. Further to that, the Act needs to go for approval in Parliament. The statutes are really the internal governance arrangements, he added. The reform committee was established as a follow-up measure to the UG Transformational Task Force established in 2016. The task force had recognized the need for a Committee to assess and make recommendations for adjustments and/or amendments to the University’s Act and Statutes, including the composition of the Council and the core competencies required for effective Governance.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>It was also noted that a critical imperative in the transformation process must be the recognition by all stakeholders that UG is an autonomous institution. The Task Force members also conceded that “there must be strict adherence to the principles of effective governance being dependent on, inter alia, vision, dedication, time commitment, leadership, transparency, openness, objectivity and trust. It was also agreed upon that UG, through its Council, must be accountable to the Government, students, staff, donors, alumni and the wider Guyanese community.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In keeping with the principle of effective governance, it was agreed that there should be a clear distinction between the Council’s role in approving and overseeing policy in accordance with the provisions of the Act, Statutes and Regulations, and that of the Administration, whose role is to execute policy and be responsible for the day to day administration of the University.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2018/06/13/ug-to-enjoy-more-autonomy-under-proposed-system-of-governance/\">https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2018/06/13/ug-to-enjoy-more-autonomy-under-proposed-system-of-governance/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('event', 0, 656, 665, 'und', 0, '<p>Professor&nbsp;Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith, C.C.H Tenth Vice-Chancellor &amp; Principal cordially invites you to attend a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony of The Berbice Campus Library\'s Extension.</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 657, 666, 'und', 0, '<p>A significant portion of the $100 M grant which the University of Guyana secured last year as part of Government\'s effort to help the institution establish an Oil and Gas programme, has been expended. Last year, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the University of Guyana (UG) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a $100 million philanthropic education grant for the period 2017-2018.&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The grant provided the University of Guyana\'s, Faculty of Technology with much-needed equipment for its geology labs, curriculum development, training, outreach, and field research, all linked to the emerging oil and gas sector.&nbsp;It also provided specific allocations for all other faculties for student-centered enhancements at the university.&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Speaking about the programme, Vice Chancellor of UG Professor Ivelaw Griffith explained that this is one of the university\'s most significant grants, with the GGMC.&nbsp;Griffith said that it is an investment by the Government in the institution, in an area critical to the nation\'s economy.&nbsp;He said that the project is a result of UG long-standing relationship with GGMC.&nbsp;He highlighted the fact, that many of the commission\'s staff through scholarships has received their higher education at the institution. To date, 87% of the finances have been pumped into realising UG\'s oil and gas programme.&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Some $55M was used for equipment and supplies to the Faculty of Technology\'s laboratories, pursued by the GGMC, Some $10 M was expended on training; some $16M was for infrastructural projects through UG.&nbsp;When Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman, handed over the first tranche of the funds ($45M) to the Vice Chancellor last year, he noted the government views the initiative as an investment in education, and development.&nbsp;The minister noted that the project is significant since “it represents a renewed and enhanced relationship with the Ministry and GGMC with the University of Guyana,” even as the oil and gas sector develops.&nbsp;Additionally, Trotman said that similar efforts are also needed in the gold and diamond mining sectors as they will not be neglected in the period, post-2020 when oil production begins.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://www.petroleumworld.com/story18061402.htm\">http://www.petroleumworld.com/story18061402.htm</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 658, 667, 'und', 0, '<p>Impressed by the talents that exist within the local Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, one overseas based Guyanese, who has demonstrated prowess on the world stage, has committed his efforts toward the development of the sector locally.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Dr Jason Mars, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Clinc, a company that is said to have created the world’s most sophisticated and comprehensive conversational Artificial Intelligence (A.I) platform for enterprises, has embarked on the establishment of a scholarship programme that would afford Computer Science Majors at the University of Guyana (UG) an opportunity to pursue PhD studies at the University of Michigan.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Added to that, he has also began networking with local tech companies, an interaction that has led to individuals being invited to train and work on a project for the Ford Motor Company.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><img alt=\"\" src=\"/sites/default/files/images/uploads/Jason_Mars-541x500.jpg\" style=\"width: 100%;\" /></p>\r\n\r\n<p>In a recent interview with Sunday Stabroek, Dr. Mars, born to Guyanese parents Joan and Perry Mars, explained that though he was born in Jamaica, he spent several years in Guyana before migrating to the US at the age of eight.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>It was during his schooling in the US that his interest in computer science was sparked and later manifested into what it is right now.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>With a PhD in Computer Science from University of Virginia, the 35-year-old was recognized as one of the ten most innovative CEOs in banking by Bank Innovation. He is also a professor of computer science at the University of Michigan, where he directs Clarity Lab, one of the best places in the world to be trained in A.I. and system design. Prior to the University of Michigan, Dr. Mars was a professor at the University of California San Diego. He also worked at Google, Intel and IBM. Dr Mars’ work building the world’s first open-source platform for constructing large-scale A.I. and deep learning-based Intelligent Personal Assistants (IPAs) has been recognised globally and continues to have a significant impact on industry and academia.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Clinc began as a research group at the University of Michigan under the name Clarity Labs Inc; a name which was later shortened to Clinc. The company was launched in July, 2015, with a mission to redefine experiences through Conversational A.I and presently has 100 plus employees, having doubled&nbsp; its staff only three months ago.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>For those who may not be entirely familiar with the term ‘Conversational AI’, it is simply software that allows interaction through conversation, such as is the case with the popular Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant. However, the technology developed by Clinc is said to be much more sophisticated.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>According to the CEO, the Clinc team has spent a lot of time building and growing the company and has offices in Michigan, San Francisco and London. Clinc also has customers on four continents, mostly with large enterprises in America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Turkey, and Singapore. Its success as a company thus far is mirrored in the works it has done for enterprises such as Barclays Bank in the UK, Wells Fargo, Ford and other large companies.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>According to Dr. Mars, while they would have placed a lot of focus on development of Conversational AI for financial institutions, they have since branched off. This decision has led to plans to re-launch the company later this year as they are able to support a number of different fields through the development of conversational A.I. for all experiences.</p>\r\n\r\n<h4><strong>Deepening ties</strong></h4>\r\n\r\n<p>But even with all of this going on, Dr Mars says he is still very much interested in deepening ties with the local tech sector. The CEO explained that though he left Guyana at a young age, he still sees Guyana as home and as such, he visits often and is willing to assist in whatever ways he can to help with the economic development of the tech sector here. He explained that during his last visit to Guyana in May, he met with the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana and was able to select two Computer Science Majors for the Scholarship programme.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“The beautiful thing about Guyana is that it has intellectual and energetic young people with fires in their belly to do good work,” Dr. Mars said, while expressing the belief that there needs to be more work in educational development in order for persons to be able to compete globally.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“I saw an opportunity to bring them to do studies at a top university in America”, the CEO said. He also expressed the hope of being able to make the initiative an annual occurrence.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Meanwhile, Sunday Stabroek was told that while the initial plan was to select only one person, because he was truly impressed by the talent he came across, a decision was made by Dr Mars to select two persons. They are: Christopher Clarke and Roland Daynauth.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Dr Mars explained that while Daynauth is expected to start later this year, Clarke will be applying at the end of summer and is expected to start early next year. Regarding the networking with local tech companies, Dr. Mars spoke highly of Version 75 Solutions (V75), a social impact focused software company in Guyana.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>According to Dr. Mars, he connected with Eldon Marks, CEO and Founder of Version 75 Solutions, after asking around to meet leaders in the local tech sector.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Dr. Mars said he found particular interest in a V75 social impact project, for which Clinc has since offered funding.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>It was further explained that because Dr. Mars was so impressed with the talent he saw, he invited Marks and two of V75’s team members to Ann Arbor, Michigan to undergo competency engineer training on his company’s AI platform. According to Dr. Mars, the duo has since been assigned tasks on a project undertaken by Clinc for the Ford motor company.</p>\r\n\r\n<h4><strong>Something Different</strong></h4>\r\n\r\n<p>For his part, Marks told Sunday Stabroek that Dr Mars and his company bring “something different” to the table. He explained that while his company would have been contacted in the past by foreign companies, he found that they were more or less looking for cheap labour.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>This, however, is not the case with Clinc, as they have shown that they not only value the work of the local tech community, but are also genuinely interested in giving back through exposure and opportunities.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Marks also confirmed that V75 team members Asa Brouet and Shemar Lindie have been assigned tasks in the completion of a project for Ford undertaken by Clinc, and he added that the men are thrilled to be working on the project, while adding that he continues to receive excellent feedback from Dr. Mars and his team.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“There is so much that can be done and it’s really sad to see that the talent does not have the ability to create value for the entire world. I saw an opportunity to create an avenue for those doing computer science so those resources can be funneled into Guyana,” Dr. Mars said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“I will contribute to sparking and building the tech sector in Guyana. We are just getting started…We are excited about what we are doing and I am committed to investing in Guyana and helping to contribute to the economic development of the tech sector, so stay tuned,” he added.</p>\r\n', '', 'full_html'),
('news', 0, 659, 668, 'und', 0, '<p>A task force set up to examine the governance structure of the University Of Guyana (UG) has recommended that the membership of the university’s governing council be severely pared down and its functions restricted to policy formation so that the Vice-Chancellor (VC) can have greater autonomy in the day-to-day running of the institution.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Speaking on Tuesday at a Media Luncheon to mark the end of his second year in office, Vice-Chancellor Ivelaw Griffith noted that with the permission of the University Council, the task force, led by Professor Lawrence Carrington, was constituted to review the governance structure of the university.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>After a year and a half of work, the task force is set to present its recommendations on July 26th at an extraordinary meeting of the council.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Among the recommendations to be presented is a call for “no partisan political representation or special interest representation on the university council.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Griffith noted that the current University of Guyana Act requires that representatives from the Association of Universities and Colleges in Canada, American University of State Colleges and Universities, Committee for International Cooperation and Higher Education of the United Kingdom be included in the council, yet these bodies are “not interested in us.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Governance recommendation is that there should be a slimmer governance council focused on competencies and not special interest representation. That is a significant recommendation to what is proposed as the current governance arrangement,” Griffith stressed.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>UG Registrar Dr. Nigel Gravesande further explained that the intention of the task force was to ensure that there was a greater level of intellectual autonomy at the university.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“The contraction of its membership ought not to be interpreted that sectoral interests would not be taken into consideration, but mechanisms would be put in place to ensure that these interests find their way into the governance operations, whether it is at the level of the Council that they be invited or the Academic Board, for example, to which private sector’s involvement in curriculum review, curriculum refocusing to meet the developmental needs can in fact be catered for,” he explained.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Reminding that there existed a nine month gap between the expiration of the last council and the establishment of the current one, Gravesande noted that the recommendation will allow for a seamless transition from one council to the other as appointments will not be blocked.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He stressed too that the recommendation will allow the Chief Executive, the VC, to have greater autonomy since the council will deal with policy and the VC will deal with “operational issues with a mechanism for accountability that is clear.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“For the last 50 years, one saw an intrusion by the University Council into operational issues of the university; the day-to-day administration,” he stressed.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Gravesande noted that the existence of a “mechanism for accountability” will prevent a rogue administration from developing as the VC will have to report on all activities on a regular basis.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Griffith also noted that the existence of several reporting structures outside of the council will prevent the development of a runaway VC as there is the “Academic Board, the Finance and General Purposes Committee, and the Council of Deans.”&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Griffith and Gravesande both indicated that if approved by Council, the recommendations would have to be approved by the National Assembly as an Amendment to the current University of Guyana Act.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Griffith has already met with Attorney General Basil Williams in expectation of this reality.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The University of Guyana Act currently states that the Council shall consist of 26 members, including the Chancellor, Pro Chancellor, and Principal and Vice-Chancellors. The other members, according to the Act, must be drawn as follows: One person to be nominated by the Committee of Deans; one person to be nominated by the Academic Board; one from the Guild of Graduates; one from the Student Society; one from the University of Guyana Workers’ Union; one from the Ministry of Education and Cultural Development; one from the Ministry of Finance; one from the political party in office; one from the minority leader; four from Non-Governmental Organisations which in the opinion of the minister best represents the interest of women, farmers, Amerindians and business; one from the Guyana Trades Union Congress; three by the Minister to contribute in the field of medicine and law; six persons identified by the Chancellor and of which one shall be from each of the Association of Universities and Colleges in Canada, American University of State Colleges and Universities, Committee for International Cooperation and Higher Education of the United Kingdom and the University of the West Indies (UWI).</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/guyana/06/16/task-forces-proposes-axing-political-special-interest-reps-from-ug-council/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/guyana/06/16/task-forces-proposes-axing-political-special-interest-reps-from-ug-council/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('event', 0, 660, 669, 'und', 0, '<p>The Tenth Vice-Chancellor &amp; Principal of The University of Guyana Professor Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith invites you to&nbsp;Re-Ignite: A Reception with The University of Guyana\'s Alumni Association Toronto Chapter on Thursday July 19th, 2018 from 18:00 - 20:00 hours at the Tropicana Community Services 1385 Huntingwood Drive Scarborough, ON MIS 3J1. Admission is&nbsp;<strong>FREE.</strong></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('event', 0, 661, 670, 'und', 0, '<p>The Tenth Vice- Chancellor of The University of Guyana Professor Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith request your pleasure and company at Turkeyen &amp; Tain Talks 13 at which a distinguished and knowledgeable panel will address the topic: Sugar Now...<br />\r\n<br />\r\nDate: Wednesday June 20,2018<br />\r\nVenue: Little Rock Suites, New Amsterdam Berbice<br />\r\nTime: 17:00-19;00 hrs</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('event', 0, 662, 671, 'und', 0, '<p>The Faculty of Education and Humanities along with the Office of Planning and International Engagement will host a Consultation on World Languages on Monday June 18, 2018 from 09:00h in the Education Lecture Theatre.</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('event', 0, 663, 672, 'und', 0, '<p>The Tenth Vice- Chancellor of The University of Guyana Professor Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith request your pleasure and company at a Professional Engagement Seminar&nbsp;An Overview of The Liza Field Development Phase 1 by Mr Lugard Layne Bsc., MPhil on Wednesday, June 20th, 2018 at the Faculty of Technology Board Room, Turkeyen Campus</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 664, 673, 'und', 0, '<p><strong>By Dr. Ken Danns</strong><br />\r\nMillennials are those individuals who came of age around the turn of the 21st century. Some scholars have advanced that the millennial cohort consists of individuals born between 1982 and 2004. Guyanese Millennials are youths and the young adults of the society.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>They comprise an estimated 220,000 or approximately 30 percent of Guyana’s population. They are the first generation to be born in a Guyana in transition from socialism to capitalism. As a consequence, Guyanese millennials are not “comrades” but Facebook friends; they are not the subjects of an authoritarian political state and its paramount leader, but rather followers of twitter and other social media.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>These millennials have little more than academic awareness of the colonial struggles, the cooperative socialist republic, the era of nationalization and the era of divestment. Guyanese millennials now enjoy greater levels of political and other freedoms in the society than all previous generations. They are less racist, sexist, and homophobic and are far more open to and tolerant of ethnic diversity, intermarrying and miscegenation than earlier generations.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Guyanese millennials would rather not have to deal with politics and in fact are largely alienated from political parties and the government. The majority are politically unaffiliated. Yet, these millennials are a very socially-engaged and active generation. Most of them have a Facebook page or are dutifully enrolled in some other social media platform. Guyanese millennials are a net generation that live in a virtual world of contacts and caring even as they negotiate their own life’s realities.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>They are what Time Magazine calls the “Me, me, me generation” that value their individuality and freedom, in a manner that exceeds preceding generations. These millennials use social media to feel relevant. Want their opinions to be heard. They seek validation of self by striving to attract virtual followers. Millennials externalize their private selves, sharing their personal lives in the global spheres in ways seldom done with their own families.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Guyanese millennials are a highly technological cohort having grown up in an electronics-filled and increasingly online and socially networked world. They evince a great comfort level with and are addicted to electronic gadgets such cell phones, computers, tablets and readily embrace new and evolving technology in general.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>They are the generation that has received the most marketing attention being constantly bombarded and made to feel relevant and wanted by the deluge of media platforms that compete for their attention. By the click of a mouse Guyanese millennials have the world at their fingertips.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Guyanese millennials have emerged in a country characterised by fundamental societal transformations and declining economic indices. Guyanese millennials have been bequeathed an uncertain environment characterised by quadruple of major societal disruptions.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>First, there is economic disruption. The Guyana economy has experienced seemingly irreversible downturns in the sugar-one of its major pillars, looming in the horizon is the transformative onset of a promising oil industry to fill the economic void.<br />\r\nSecond, there is the disruption of upward mobility and succession. Guyanese millennials are being faced with blocked opportunities for upward mobility as earlier generations retire and recycle themselves into plum positions and appointments.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>As a generation millennial are finding that may be largely excluded from positions of leadership and governance in the society by the preceding baby boomers’ generation and Generation X. There is generational competition for positions of administrative and political leadership in the society that the Guyanese Baby Boomers generation are so far winning.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The disruption of upward mobility and succession has added to the environment of uncertainty facing Guyana millennials. Millennials are an instant gratification generation empowered by the technologies at their fingertips and the knowledge that the world is their oyster. Consequently, they are constantly looking for alternatives outside of Guyana.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Third, there is the disruption of outward migration. The millennial generation is increasingly likely to migrate from their communities and from their country in search of opportunities overseas. Ninety three percent of the tertiary educated in Guyana have so far migrated making Guyana the migration capital of the Latin America and Caribbean region and the world. In its 2018 Labour Force Survey, the Guyana Bureau of Statistics found that less than ten percent of the Guyana population have completed any education higher than secondary.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The private sector in Guyana has identified “an inadequately educated workforce as the main obstacle to business ahead of other factors such as crime, corruption, electricity and taxes. The labour Force Survey Report stated that “The findings have two implications: on the one hand it entails a shortage of highly qualified human resources in the labour market.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>On the other it indirectly confirms the seriousness of the issue of outmigration of tertiary educated people, which may explain the relatively low educational profile and skills portfolio of the economically active population.” Millennials, many of whom are currently in tertiary institutions, are poised to migrate and to continue the brain drain unless suitable jobs can be found or attractive entrepreneurial paths can be shown.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Fourth, there is the disruption of politics and governance. Millennials have been witnesses to widespread corruption and the failure of good governance in the society and are disillusioned by and fed up with these. It bothers them greatly that things aren’t getting done swiftly and adequately to improve and develop the society. They are seemingly not a generation that gravitates readily to protests, social movements and revolution. Instead, they go about their lives seeking to earn a living and to vote if in their judgment it can make a difference.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Though they exist in an uncertain societal climate besieged with transformative changes, Guyanese millennials are not a hopeless generation. Change is their “jam” and they are comfortable with it. They might be disillusioned with the way things are, but they have come to expect changes in their country and may be better at dealing with its gushing constancy than their parents.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>These changes include a soon to be oil dominated economy coupled with significant influx of migrants from other countries that would immutably broaden the ethnic composition of the society. Already Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese are being spoken in many communities across Guyana, a Caribbean country in which English will very likely no longer be the only language widely spoken.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://guyanachronicle.com/2018/06/19/guyanese-millennials\">http://guyanachronicle.com/2018/06/19/guyanese-millennials</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 665, 674, 'und', 0, '<h4><strong>— University of Trinidad and Tobago petroleum expert</strong></h4>\r\n\r\n<p>UNIVERSITY of Guyana (UG) Faculty of Technology students along with other stakeholders including lecturers of the university on Wednesday participated in a two hour professional engagement seminar titled “an overview of the Liza Field Development Phase 1” facilitated by petroleum expert Lugard Layne.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The discourse which was held in the boardroom of the Faculty of Technology saw Layne, a senior instructor on petroleum engineering at the University of Trinidad and Tobago, examining Phase 1 of the Liza Field development.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In his presentation, the Guyanese lecturer who now resides in Trinidad said the government of Guyana needs to start its discourse on gas market utilisation now.<br />\r\nHe stressed the need for a gas market utilisation plan while adding that the natural gas industry can have significant benefits to Guyana.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Right now it is not in ExxonMobil’s interest to discuss gas utilisation but as a country we should be planning for when that day arises. I am saying that in terms of developing a gas market, the government of Guyana ought to be planning, not tomorrow, not next year; but those set of plans should be going right now. That is one of my concerns; I am not hearing a discourse on the gas market,” he said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In terms of the development of the gas market, Layne said it is not wise to reinvent the wheel. As such, he suggested a partnership which would allow the government to get initial counts on, aid in the marketing of the gas, how to negotiate the contracts and how to set up the infrastructure.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Don’t wait until ExxonMobil comes to tell you what they want to do with the gas and then you now trying to come up with a plan. You need to be strategising before they come to you; not after they come to you.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>It should be noted that Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson has repeatedly made it clear that his government will not be rushed into any arrangement with respect to natural gas.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The government had contracted Energy Narrative to conduct a study on the utilisation of natural gas for electricity generation. Guyana Chronicle understands that other companies are also exploring the prospect of utilising natural gas to meet the country’s energy needs.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Wednesday’s discourse is part of a series of talks being facilitated by Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Ivelaw Griffith.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://guyanachronicle.com/2018/06/22/start-conversation-on-gas-marketing-plan\">https://guyanachronicle.com/2018/06/22/start-conversation-on-gas-marketing-plan</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 666, 675, 'und', 0, '<p>Visiting President of the University of Trinidad and Tobago, Professor Sarim Al-Zubaidy has told the University of Guyana’s 5th&nbsp;Conversation on Law and Society that investing oil revenues into education would help fuel further economic growth.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Guyana must also follow guidance from oil-rich countries so as to avoid their mistakes, Al-Zubaidy told the audience on Thursday evening while stressing that “education fuels economic growth…Build the local capacity and capability and ensure that you introduce your local structures into the final process so that you achieve the success of the successful countries.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Al-Zubaidy also said Guyana must take full advantage of the contribution of the oil sector and use the revenue to transform the economy. “It is therefore imperative that the revenue derived from the sector be maximized and used for the transition of Guyana’s economy to one which is internationally diversified. This would ensure that the life is enjoyed by the future generation.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The professor, who is an engineer with over 30 years’ experience in senior academic and administrative positions, also mentioned that developing and maintaining a category of skilled professionals is also very important. From this, he said that the developed personnel should be in place before and after production begins so that the country is not dependent on what is said by the oil companies.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>After the presentation, the conversation with the audience began featuring input from Al-Zubaidy, Trinidad and Tobago Methanol Company Chair in Petroleum Engineering Prof. Andrew Jupiter, University of the West Indies Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering Clement Imbert, and retired US Department of Energy Engineer Dr. Vincent Adams.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The conversation revolved around the investment in education which would, in turn, bring about long-term sustenance. It was also said that the government must get the best deals in any production sharing agreement and ensure that parts of these deals have a substantial contribution to education. Guyana was encouraged by the Trinidad professors to learn from their country’s failures. Finally, the country received the advice to not only look at the revenue from energy but look at diversifying the economy and not forget about our other resources.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://dpi.gov.gy/pour-oil-money-into-education/\">http://dpi.gov.gy/pour-oil-money-into-education/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html');
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('news', 0, 667, 676, 'und', 0, '<p>Guyana has been receiving seismic data and verifying the amount of oil being discovered and the wells that are not commercially viable, the Commissioner of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commissioner, Newell Dennison said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“We are sufficiently competent to see if what they are saying in terms of what has been represented makes sense so there are formulas, for example, that engineers and geophysicists- and we do have engineers here- can apply in, for example, a downhole log, the logs that are generated that come into our possession. They can look at those logs and from the responses on those logs, we can say ‘yes’ or ‘no’…,” he told Demerara Waves Online News. Dennisson said so far Guyanese authorities were satisfied with the declarations being made. “So far, at least from where I sit, we are satisfied with their prognosis,” he&nbsp; said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>ExxonMobil’s Public and Government Affairs Officer, Kimberly Brasington said,&nbsp; when asked whether her company provides all of the seismic data to Guyana to allow the country to independently verify the amounts of oil found at each well or if they are not commercially viable, said, “Yes, well data is provided to and reviewed with both the GGMC and the Minister of Natural Resources as well as our partners Hess and Nexen, as required by our agreement”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Other industry experts said consortia such as Esso Exploration and Production (Guyana) Limited- ExxonMobil, Hess, Nexen- usually hire independent consultants to independently verify the oil discoveries for each partner. The experts said even if ExxonMobil or any other company does not consider an area economically feasible, when the area is eventually relinquished that does not prevent Guyana from assigning that area to another company that might consider it as having commercial interest.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Those assurances came against the background&nbsp;Chair of Petroleum Engineering at the University of the West Indies’ (UWI) Trinidad campus, Professor Andrew Jupiter saying that Guyana needs&nbsp; highly trained personnel to interpret the seismic data to determine whether the amounts of oil declared by oil companies are accurate.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“You have to train the best in your country so that you get all the data from that well because…,according to the legislation, all the data belong to the government of the Republic of Guyana so that it means that all the logs that you are on…they will interpret it and you will be able to have an independent calculation,” he told a University of Guyana-organised 5th Conversation on Law and Society: “Some Economic and Educational Imperatives of the Oil Business.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>While Jupiter said Guyana could hire consultants in the interim, he advised that Guyana should be wary of their connections to oil companies.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Former United States Department of Energy (DoE) official,&nbsp; Dr. Vincent Adams added that Guyanese on-sitewould need “free, unfettered access” as part of a verification system. Accountants, he said, are usually required to be present and operating from the same system as the contractor to have access to the information. “We own that information, not the contractor so the most important thing that we can do is to provide oversight,” he said. Adams stressed that Guyanese personnel would have to be trained as good as or better trained than the contractors’ personnel. “They (Exxon and other oil companies) know that. They operate under those same conditions outside this country and we should expect no less and they are expecting us to do it here. It’s nothing we are dumping on them that they are not used to,” said Adams who is also the Engineer-in-Residence at the University of Guyana.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>UWI Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Clement Imbert earlier in the presentation stressed the importance of verification by lawyers, accountants to ensure that “you are getting a fair deal” instead of being told that the country would get the monies to spend on economic diversification.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“You cannot depend on the oil companies to tell you the truth… You have to verify everything that they are telling you so that your State Commissions, the Ministry etc. They have to be well-equipped- human resource, as well as the infrastructure- the laboratories, the testing facilities etc;” said Imbert who was an inspection engineer in the oil industry.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>ExxonMobil said The current estimate for the Stabroek Block is more than 3.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent and certainly would be more after more data is processed. Brasington explained that Longtail and Ranger drilling results are under evaluation. However, the combined estimated recoverable resources of Turbot and Longtail will exceed 500 million barrels of oil equivalent. Turbo is included in the previously stated 3.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent number.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Based on Trinidad and Tobago’s experience in the oil and gas sector, Professor Imbert recommended that Guyana gets the “best deal” in the Production Sharing Agreements (PSA) to include a “substantial contribution” to mainly tertiary education. In apparent reference to heated public criticisms of the Guyana-ExxonMobil PSA, Imbert said there was no time to look back. “Whatever happened in the past, happened in the past and whatever debate that’s going on now, that is irrelevant. The past is the past. Get the best deal you can get now for that,” he said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The 2016 revised PSA provides for US$3 million of the US$18 to go to training, in addition to an annual pay-out of US$300,000 each for corporate social responsibility, and capacity building. Projections are that Guyana will earn US$380 million annually from royalties alone, plus a year licence fee of US$1 million.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The UWI academic further recommended that governance and regulation be strengthened to Guyana’s benefit with the establishment of laws, regulations and commissions.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Guyana plans to pass legislation to provide for the establishment of a Sovereign Wealth Fund, Petroleum Commission and Local Content. Guyana has been tapping into industry expertise in that regard from The Commonwealth, World Bank, Norway, United States and Canada.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://demerarawaves.com/2018/06/22/guyana-verifies-oil-exploration-data-as-experts-stress-need-for-robust-system/\">http://demerarawaves.com/2018/06/22/guyana-verifies-oil-exploration-data-as-experts-stress-need-for-robust-system/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 668, 677, 'und', 0, '<p>VISITING President of the University of Trinidad and Tobago, Professor Sarim Al-Zubaidy has told the University of Guyana’s 5th Conversation on Law and Society that investing oil revenues into education would help fuel further economic growth.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Guyana must also follow guidance from oil-rich countries so as to avoid their mistakes, Al-Zubaidy told the audience on Thursday evening while stressing that “education fuels economic growth…Build the local capacity and capability and ensure that you introduce your local structures into the final process so that you achieve the success of the successful countries.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Al-Zubaidy also said Guyana must take full advantage of the contribution of the oil sector and use the revenue to transform the economy. “It is therefore imperative that the revenue derived from the sector be maximized and used for the transition of Guyana’s economy to one which is internationally diversified. This would ensure that the life is enjoyed by the future generation.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The professor, who is an engineer with over 30 years experience in senior academic and administrative positions, also mentioned that developing and maintaining a category of skilled professionals is also very important. From this, he said that the developed personnel should be in place before and after production begins so that the country is not dependent on what is said by the oil companies.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>After the presentation, the conversation with the audience began featuring input from Al-Zubaidy, Trinidad and Tobago Methanol Company Chair in Petroleum Engineering Prof. Andrew Jupiter, University of the West Indies Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering Clement Imbert, and retired US Department of Energy Engineer Dr. Vincent Adams.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The conversation revolved around the investment in education which would, in turn, bring about long-term sustenance. It was also said that the government must get the best deals in any production sharing agreement and ensure that parts of these deals have a substantial contribution to education.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Guyana was encouraged by the professors to learn from their country’s failures. Finally, the country received the advice to not only look at the revenue from energy but look at diversifying the economy and not to forget about our other resources.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://guyanachronicle.com/2018/06/24/pour-oil-money-into-education\">https://guyanachronicle.com/2018/06/24/pour-oil-money-into-education</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 669, 678, 'und', 0, '<p>WHEN Stefan Hutson saw the genuine need of some people for food while he was an intern attached to Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) last year, he knew he had to do something, and something he did. He started a non-governmental organisation (NGO) named ‘Potluck’ with a group of volunteers and co-founder Navina Paul, who would do a weekly feeding programme and a monthly medical outreach.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Hutson told the Guyana Chronicle that when he was at GPHC, every Sunday they would prepare a meal of whatever he had and distribute to the needy and within minutes 15-20 boxes of food would be gone.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Now, the 27-year-old is a teacher at the University of Guyana (UG), and has even gained the support of students, who would pitch in from time to time to lend a helping hand in the feeding programme and medical outreach.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Dr. Hutson said all the cooking is usually done out of his apartment in Forshaw Street, Queenstown in which 25-30 volunteers assist him in a weekly feeding programme and their monthly medical outreach at the East La Penitence Night Shelter.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He related that he started the feeding programme last June and will continue in this stride however, he can.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Every week, on Sundays, Hutson said he would also distribute clothing, food and condoms to the less fortunate in the city.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He explained that they make do with whatever donations are given to the group (Potluck) and they also provide the necessary to cook a pot of cook-up rice and hand out to mostly the homeless and those in need of a hot meal.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Dr. Hutson said, “We plan to do this as long as we can and we are trying to embark on a youth empowerment programme since mostly youths are a part of the group.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Apart from the feeding programme and the medical outreach, he noted that they also provide groceries to several single mothers on a monthly basis whenever they can.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Hutson is contending that they can be able to do more in the near future but as is they are using what they have to enhance the lives of others in a tangible way.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>This enterprising young man is passionate about assisting others and hopes to get more support for his organisation Potluck in an effort to continue to feed the needy. Hutson said Potluck is a non-profit organisation which endeavoured to help vulnerable groups in Guyana, which includes homeless persons, single parent families and young people.<br />\r\nHe noted that they had recognised that some of the major problems faced by homeless persons and some of the other vulnerable groups are: access to food, health services – including aid for drug addiction and mental health issues, the need for clothing and basic hygiene products and ultimately the need for education/skills training and job placement which are crucial for reintegration into functional society.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Dr. Hutson told the Guyana Chronicle that the challenge of homelessness and all of its causes and exacerbating factors is a complex problem that can only be solved with the input of multiple stakeholders, including the homeless population itself.<br />\r\nHe said, “We are always eager to engage with others and accept help in whatever forms are available with hopes of being a conduit for help to this marginalised population.”<br />\r\nThe literal meaning of potluck is “whatever happens to be available especially when offered to an unexpected guest or when brought by guests and shared by all”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Potluck’s goal is to bring together highly talented individuals who can collectively brainstorm these issues and come up with effective and sustainable ideas to tackle them. The group believes that everyone has some skill or talent that he or she can bring to the table to make better, the lives of others.<br />\r\nPotluck seeks to provide meals, clothing, hygiene items, medical services and products to persons who are less fortunate and homeless in Guyana.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The medical services they provide are meant to complement the work of existing health providers in the country, with current and future referral systems in place for complex problems, including drug abuse and mental illness.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Potluck also provides training for the development of skills and empowerment opportunities for vulnerable groups, including youth, in hopes of addressing poverty at one of its primary roots – civic engagement, access to education and skills training.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://guyanachronicle.com/2018/06/24/potluck-lends-a-helping-hand\">http://guyanachronicle.com/2018/06/24/potluck-lends-a-helping-hand</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 670, 679, 'und', 0, '<p>With Guyana an emerging oil and gas country and with several agreements signed with companies, the primary focus now should be on establishing a sound legal and regulatory framework.&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;“One of the first things you need is that your legal framework must be in place,” University of the West Indies Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering, Clement Imbert, last Thursday evening told a University of Guyana oil and gas forum.</p>\r\n\r\n<div>\r\n<div>“What petroleum Act you operate in the country with what regulations etcetera, that legal framework for the operations of the petroleum sector is very important,” he added, as he explained that it was needed to guide what type of approvals are needed by an oil company, such as if they needed approvals&nbsp;&nbsp; for drilling, development plans and other up, middle and downstream works.</div>\r\n</div>\r\n\r\n<p>The Deputy Chairman of the University of Trinidad and Tobago’s Board of Governors told attendees at the University of Guyana’s fifth Conversation on Law and Society, which was held under the theme- Some Economic and Educational Imperatives of the Oil Business- that Guyana needs to move swiftly to get its petroleum laws in place as it plans for the future.&nbsp; Laws, he said, are important as the country and government take into consideration what contractual arrangements will guide the disposal of future oil blocks.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>President of the University of Trinidad and Tobago, Professor Sarim Al-Zubaidy, Trinidad and Tobago Methanol Company Chair and University of the West Indies Professor, Andrew Jupiter and retired US Department of Energy Engineer, Dr. Vincent Adams were also part of the panel discussion.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>They all underscored the importance of education and training of Guyanese to not only efficiently verify and monitor the sector but to provide the skills needed to use revenue collected from the depletable resource for sustainable economic and other diverse programmes.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Speaking to Stabroek News after the event, Imbert echoed most of what he told attendees at the event, which was held at the Duke Lodge, Georgetown and said that the country has no time to lament on what has happened in the past but must focus on what is best for it going forward.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Shell and those are coming, there was an eighth oil discovery announced yesterday, whatever happened in the past happened in the past and that is irrelevant now. What is relevant is that you get the best deal that you can get now with the others that are coming and have systems to manage what you already have and plans on what to do with those revenues…because it is a whole lot of revenue, I can tell you,” he said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Ensure that your institutional infrastructure is in place to deal with the oil and gas windfall that you have. The infrastructure, whatever commissions, whatever laws you have to craft, you have to start thinking of it immediately so that the governance and the regulations of what is going to happen in the industry is to your benefit.&nbsp; And you must make sure it is that. You have to start preparing your population now. Start educating them now,” he added.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Equally important and Imbert’s advice to the Government of Guyana, was for it to ensure that part of future oil deals caters for a substantial contribution to the education of Guyana’s citizenry, particularly&nbsp; in the area of tertiary education.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He said that the laws and regulations will ensure that companies are held accountable even as the environment and populace are protected.</p>\r\n\r\n<h4><strong>Cannot depend</strong></h4>\r\n\r\n<p>“You cannot depend on the companies to tell you the truth. If anyone of them&nbsp; is here forgive me…but you have to verify everything they are telling you. So, your state commissions, ministries, etcetera, all have to be well equipped, as well as the infrastructure and human resource. I am talking the laboratories… the lawyers and so on needed to do the verification to ensure you are getting a fair deal,” he said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“The education of these people is very important. I spent the first eight years as inspection engineer. The education of your population for all three areas- the service, direct, and all other businesses that service the oil companies, directly and indirectly, are important.&nbsp; You must have a very educated population to deal with that. You cannot depend on what they tell you, ‘Oh Don’t worry about anything’…no! …the world is global and you have to think of that too,” he added.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Former Attorney General and People’s Progressive Party/Civic&nbsp; Member of Parliament Anil Nandall agrees with Imbert on the passing of laws and regulations for the sector and lamented government’s current sloth in ensuring the passage of the Petroleum Commission Bill.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“The Petroleum Commission Bill is obviously one of the most important pieces of legislation. Neither its importance nor its urgency can be over-emphasized. The law that will lay the foundation for Guyana’s emerging petroleum industry. Naturally it will have to undergo several changes after its promulgation. Yet, it has been parked in a select committee for the longest while with no discernable interest in the government to expedite its consideration in that committee. Several months have passed and a single meeting has not been convened,” Nandall lamented.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“So currently, there is no modern regulatory framework in relation to the petroleum industry and the government feels abnormally comfortable with such an unfortunate state of affairs. The bill that is there is not a bad bill except that it (reposes) an unusual amount of power in the minister rather than the commission. Most of what has to be done, is a transfer of the power over to the commission and you will have a fairly good bill as a start,” he added.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Nandlall said that no reason has been given by government for the delays.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“You will note that the 11th Parliament is comparatively one of the least productive parliaments over the last 20 years in Guyana. The Parliament sits less than once per month. When we were in government, even during while we were in a minority government, parliament sat as frequent as once per week on one occasion. We had a packed parliamentary agenda. Now there is hardly a legislative agenda from this government and the few bills that they are bringing. If they are sent to select committees, they are stuck there,” he said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Currently there are a series of bills stuck in select committees and there are no good reasons why this is so. But one of the reasons is because ministers are flying around the world and the government, because it has a one-seat majority, doesn’t go to parliament unless all its members are present, which is unusual and a rarity. So one cannot even predict when this bill would come out of the select committee” he added.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/guyana/06/25/sound-legal-regulatory-framework-for-oil-urgently-needed/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/guyana/06/25/sound-legal-regulatory-framework-for-oil-urgently-needed/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 671, 680, 'und', 0, '<p>Dear readers,</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Welcome to Volume 3, No. 1 of Renaissance, the newsletter from The Office of the Vice-Chancellor in which we share all the latest activities and developments taking place at The University of Guyana.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>It is said that change is the only constant in life, and this is certainly the case at the University. Many significant transformations are occurring at this great institution – just some of which are highlighted in this January/February edition.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>One major step is the appointment of a new Council to oversee the effective management of University affairs. Another is the election of a new Pro-Chancellor. There is also growth in the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, and<br />\r\nplans for a new library with modern amenities that will facilitate greater learning and research.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Other notable mentions include the Conversations on Law and Society series, a rare autobiography, the recent epilepsy-awareness forum, plus our annual Open/Career Day, track and field sporting events, and much more.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>On behalf of the Vice-Chancellor and staff of The University of Guyana, we invite you to follow the progress and achievements of the University through future editions of Renaissance, and to spread the word about these exciting developments.</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 672, 681, 'und', 0, '<p>Farmers in Berbice will soon have access to a $24Million soil and disease testing centre that could send record rice yields even higher.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The unit is a collaboration between Nand Persaud Group of Companies and the University of Guyana’s Berbice Campus and it should be in place in about three months.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>At the sod turning for the building today at the John’s Science Centre, President of the Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce, Poonai Bhigroog noted the initiative is a step in the right direction in advancing agriculture in a region where it is the backbone of the economy.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He explained soil testing is important for a number of reasons: farmers will be able to boost crop production, protect the environment from the use of excessive fertilizers, diagnose plant problems, improve the nutritional balance of the growing plant and save money and conserve energy by applying only the amount of fertilizer needed. Moreover, it will help in producing a healthier nation as consumers will benefit from food produced from the best and safe practices. Bhigroog also lauded the partnership with the university and the private sector and pledged the chamber’s support.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“With the closure of the [sugar] estates many have returned to farming and they are certain to benefit from this venture. Graduates can be employed in this centre, experiments can be done to advance agriculture.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Director of the Berbice Campus, Gomathinayagam Subramanian who has been instrumental in making the centre a reality said; “My dream was to always help the farmers and the dream came true with the help of the vice chancellor who always encouraged me.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Ivelaw Griffith remarked that the university will also be embarking on an institution for food and security.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“We will pursue that journey of creating a sound basis for policy and advice on agriculture and food safety and nutrition. we will need many more corporate partners, civic partners to be able to take this nation to a higher level not only being able to take this national to a higher level but actualizing the potential for the Caribbean and for South America.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Chief Executive Officer, Nand Persaud and Company Limited, Mohin Persaud said the company remains committed to improving the lives, production and productivity of farmers as well as that of the community and given that students can also benefit from the laboratory the decision was taken to construct the facility in East Berbice.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Persaud is optimistic that with the use of the lab farmers in Berbice, they should be leading the country and ultimately the world in yields.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“I expect with the use of the lab, farmers can be able to get at least yields of 50 bags per acre given that we have flats lands and fresh water. There are a few farmers that are getting 50 bags and with soil tests, they can now increase that to 60 or more bags per acre. With this, I see no reason why we as a country should not be the world leaders in rice production as very few countries have access to flatlands and fresh water.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Nand Persaud Group of Companies and Brother of Mohin, Rajendra Persaud said while the initiative is a good one from his company, he is very pleased with the actions of the university and by extension the government for partnering with a private company for a joint venture.&nbsp; He said the initiative is aimed at making decisions based on scientific information and will transform the agricultural industry and make it more competitive.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"http://dpi.gov.gy/soil-testing-lab-at-ug-berbice-could-boost-rice-yields/\">http://dpi.gov.gy/soil-testing-lab-at-ug-berbice-could-boost-rice-yields/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 673, 682, 'und', 0, '<p>The University of Guyana (UG) on Thursday launched a two-day symposium aimed at developing approaches to address the underperformance of boys in the education system.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Symposium on Boys’ Education, organised under the theme “Bridging the Gender Divide: Stemming the Tide of Male Underachievement in the Education System,” was held at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, The Commonwealth of Learning, UNICEF and CARICOM.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>It precedes and will inform a project action planning workshop, which is to be held in the coming week, and which will involve the participation of education officers, and other representatives from both governmental and non-governmental agencies. The workshop will identify activities to address issues affecting boys.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“To date, we have not developed a strategic approach for the education system in Guyana. With every passing day, boys continue to slip further behind, curtailing their potential to contribute effectively to society. For these and other relevant reasons, the Faculty of Education is hosting a Symposium on Boys’ Education to identify ways of addressing this issue,” the university explained in a brochure.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>It was further stated that the initiative is in keeping with efforts to meet Sustainable Development Goal #4, which aims to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Dr Douglas Slater, Assistant Secretary General, Human and Social Development at CARICOM, stated that the discussions at the symposium would held to provide further insight into the “nature of gender in education in the CARICOM region.” He said that this information will hopefully be used to inform educational policies, transform pedagogical practices and drive professional development. He stated that solving the issue of male underachievement is critical for the success of Caribbean nations as it relates to the CARICOM Human Resource Development Strategy 2030.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“This symposium does provide an opportunity to bring together thought leaders, practitioners, academicians, researchers, from diverse disciplines from within and across the Caribbean so that they can connect in a Guyanese space—and I’m stressing that—to share and discuss ideas and innovations and practices. Ideas and innovations that hopefully elevate boys’ experience of school and schooling and by extension, improve learning outcomes and life challenges,” Dr Mairette Newman, representative of The Commonwealth of Learning, stated during her presentation at the launch.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Dr Newman referenced three notable statistics that shed light on the reality of the gender inequality in education: The fact that the gender gap in literacy widens as the ascension is made to higher grade levels, with boys dominating at lower proficiency levels, while girls dominate at higher proficiency levels; that girls outperform boys in many subject areas and are also more likely to remain in school; and that girls are more likely than boys to transition to tertiary education levels.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>She pointed to underlying trends that have been identified, including the diminishing presence on men in boys’ lives, not only in the familial sphere, but in the school setting as well, where females dominate the teaching profession, and what has been known as the “feminisation of schooling.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Being able to work quietly, cooperatively in groups, communicate effectively, be receptive, be introspective, be diligent, be methodical… teachers value those behaviours… we demand them… girls fit that mold; boys don’t,” she explained.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Dr Newman related that research has shown that outside of a student’s ability, the second greatest influence on their performance is teaching.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“So, if we want to affect the learning outcomes of students, and I put in brackets ‘boys,’ teaching is key. But if that teaching and schooling generally favours girls’ behaviours and does not value or pay attention to boys, then we have a problem,” she stated. Minister of Education Dr Nicolette Henry, in her address, stated that discussions will have to be held to determine what a “modern curriculum should look like.” She expressed hopes that the discussions at the symposium would birth a fusion of ideas that can be incorporated into the local education system.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“As the responsible institution, the Ministry of Education must look at the data to reform policies, strategies and curriculum. And it is, therefore, opportune at this time that we undertake a very extensive curriculum reform and we have begun that process,” she related.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Thursday’s presentations were on the “Cross-section of boys’ performance in education,” done by a Ministry of Education representative; and a presentation titled “Needed! A paradigm shift for unravelling the problem of male underachievement”, presented by Professor Barbara Bailey. Those were to be followed by a panel discussion on “Voices and perspectives on boy’s experiences in education”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Presentations planned for Friday were “Keeping boys out of risk—When that’s just where they want to be”, which will be presented by Shawn Hardnett, of the North Star College Preparatory Academy for Boys; Critical Mas: A collaborative project to co-design solutions with at-risk Caribbean youth,” to be presented by Dr Ngoni Chipere, of the University of the West Indies’ Open Campus; “Feminisation of Education—The absent male teacher,” by Dr Christopher Clarke, Principal of Shortwood Techers’ College in Jamaica; “Misconstruc-tions, Deconstructions and Reconstructions in Masculinity: Implications for Pedagogical Approaches to the teaching of male students in the Guyanese classroom,” by Dennis Gill, of the UG Berbice Campus; “Considerations for accelerating attendance, participation and performance,” to be presented by Education Specialist Audrey Michele Rodrigues and Michael Gillis, a Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist at UNICEF.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Their presentations were to be followed by two panel discussions: “Lessons from TVET—A Success Story,” by Patrick Onwuzirike, Deputy Chief Education Officer of the Ministry of Education; and the “Portrayal of males in the media,” by Enrico Woolford, the Chairman of the National Communica-tions Network’s Board of Directors.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/guyana/06/30/symposium-explores-underachievement-of-boys-in-education-system/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/guyana/06/30/symposium-explores-underachievement-of-boys-in-education-system/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 676, 685, 'und', 0, '<p>The University of Guyana Library has received a donation of books, equipment and supplies from Siefy Shahabuddeen, son of the former Attorney General and International Court of Justice (ICJ) Judge, Dr. Mohamed Shahabuddeen.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Valued at approximately $2.4M, the donation comprises 1,151 printed publications, five printers, two book trolleys, along with a substantial amount of stationery and supplies. According to the university, the books cover the areas of law, history, politics, literature, religion, spirituality to the paranormal and ufology. The items were handed recently to Professor Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith, C.C.H., Vice Chancellor and Principal, at a simple ceremony held on the Turkeyen Campus.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Speaking at the occasion, Shahabuddeen pointed out that the donation is dedicated to the memory of his parents, Judge Mohamed Shahabuddeen and Ms Sairah Shahabuddeen, who were both givers. “The Vice-Chancellor expressed gratitude to Mr Siefy Shahabuddeen for the significant donation, and disclosed that the library will officially dedicate a section in honour of Dr. Mohamed Shahabuddeen’s extraordinary contribution to scholarship in the areas of law, politics and economics,” according to the release from the university.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Shahabuddeen had previously made a donation of 430 books, worth in excess of $2M, in April 2014. Shahabuddeen was born in Supenaam, Essequibo Coast, on November 10, 1957, receiving his education in Guyana at Queen’s College, and The University of Guyana. He also attended the Cave Hill Campus of The University of the West Indies and Hugh Wooding Law School.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He was admitted to the bar in Guyana in 1987 as an Attorney-at-Law and was thereafter attached to the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions as State Counsel, representing the State in criminal trials in the High Court. Shahabuddeen was admitted to the Bar in Ontario, Canada, in 1996 as a Barrister and Solicitor. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed a Notary Public. In Canada, he worked in the private sector, ran a private legal practice in Toronto, and later joined the Federal Public Service. He retired from the public service in November 2017 at age 60, and lives with his wife Anita in the city of Mississauga, just west of Toronto.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2018/07/01/ug-library-receives-2-4m-donation-in-books-equipment-stationery-and-supplies/\">https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2018/07/01/ug-library-receives-2-4m-donation-in-books-equipment-stationery-and-supplies/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 677, 686, 'und', 0, '<p>The University of Guyana (UG) in its efforts to re-connect with past graduates and past faculty staff, last week Wednesday, launched the Berbice campus chapter of its Alumni Association. The goal of the Alumni Association is to connect graduates and past faculty and staff of UG in a reciprocally beneficial relationship of investing, nurturing, fundraising, mentorship and development. Persons are being urged to give back to UG through scholarships, mentorship, equipment, books, internships, monetary gifts, travel bursaries and through other kind gestures.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>At a simple ceremony held at the university’s Berbice campus to mark the occasion, Tenth Vice Chancellor Professor Ivelaw Griffith (Class of 1980 and 1981); encouraged those gathered to give back towards the development of the country’s sole national university. This campus was established in 2002 and produced its first batch of alumni two years later. The Vice Chancellor said that an alumni community cannot be built by “simply wishing it would happen.” In this regard, he said this is where the process of institutionalization comes into play, adding that one way to do so is by creating alumni associations and chapters.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Professor Griffith pointed out that the purpose of these chapters is not merely to garner funds, but to also play a vital role in helping to bring others into the university so that they could have similar or better experiences. The strength of any university has to do with its graduates, and how these past students help to strengthen the brand of the university and how they help to pave the way for others. More than half of a century after it was founded, the University of Guyana on June 2, last, launched its Alumni Association under the banner Proud Legacy: Prosperous Destiny at the institution’s Turkeyen campus.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Speaking at that event was Professor George Danns (Class of 1975) who noted that the establishment of an alumni association is long overdue, as he spoke of the importance of alumni in sustaining the educational charge of the university. Pointing out that the University has educated past and current presidents, cabinet ministers and the acting Chancellor and Chief Justice, Professor Danns recommended that the alumni association be registered as a not for profit voluntary organization consistent with the university statutes and the laws of Guyana. Deputy Vice Chancellor for Philanthropy, Alumni and Civic Engagement (PACE), Professor Paloma Mohammed (Class of 1992 and 2000) has since revealed that the New York and Toronto chapters will be launched later this month, while the London Chapter will be launched later in the year.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2018/07/02/re-connecting-with-past-students-ug-launches-berbice-campus-alumni-chapter/\">https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2018/07/02/re-connecting-with-past-students-ug-launches-berbice-campus-alumni-chapter/</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html');
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('news', 0, 678, 687, 'und', 0, '<ul>\r\n	<li>New collaboration established between ExxonMobil Foundation, Conservation International and University of Guyana</li>\r\n	<li>Program to advance Guyana’s sustainable economy through investments in education, research, sustainable management and conservation of the country’s vast ecosystems</li>\r\n	<li>Part of ExxonMobil’s long-term investment in supporting local priorities in Guyana</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n\r\n<p>IRVING, Texas &amp; GEORGETOWN, Guyana--(<a href=\"https://www.businesswire.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">BUSINESS WIRE</a>)--ExxonMobil Foundation said today that it will contribute US$10 million to a new collaboration with Conservation International and the University of Guyana to train Guyanese for sustainable job opportunities and to expand community-supported conservation.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The investment is also intended to support Guyana’s Green State Development Plan, the country’s 15-year development plan that aims, among other things, to diversify Guyana’s economy and balance economic growth with the sustainable management and conservation of the country’s ecosystems. The ExxonMobil Foundation will provide the investment over five years.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Initial grant money will fund a feasibility study driven by Conservation International, through its affiliate, Conservation International Guyana, to further define the details of the program. Once defined, Conservation International Guyana and the University of Guyana will deliver the education, training, research and retention programs that will help ensure that economic growth reinforces Guyana’s environmental development goals.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The investment is also intended to expand conservation areas in the Rupununi Wetlands, aid mangrove restoration and management and support improvements to community-based fishing on Guyana’s coast, a sector the government of Guyana has identified as critically important to the wellbeing of the Guyanese people, and support the work of the University of Guyana’s Greening Research and Innovation Centres.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“This partnership will support the highest conservation priorities for the country as well as education and training for sustainable employment,” said Kevin Murphy, president of the ExxonMobil Foundation. “It reinforces the government’s objectives as outlined in its Green State Development Strategy and demonstrates the value we place on our long-term relationship with the citizens of Guyana.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Guyana stands at a critical crossroads in its development,” said Jennifer&nbsp;Morris, president of Conservation International. “By investing in both people and&nbsp;nature, this partnership will play an important part in helping Guyana&nbsp;execute its vision for a green future.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“A central feature of Guyana’s development plans is its Green State Development Strategy which envisions a commitment to a green economy, sustainable development and protection of its forests and fresh water resources aligned with the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals,” said Professor Nigel E. Harris, chairman of the University of Guyana Council. “Funding support for a collaborative effort between Guyana’s leading university, Conservation International and ExxonMobil Foundation promises a critical opportunity to build relevant teaching, research and outreach capacity at our university that is necessary to underpin Guyana’s 2030 Vision for an inclusive, green and prosperous state.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>At this stage, Conservation International anticipates that training will be focused on environmental innovation and sustainability, and on entrepreneurship in nature-based sectors. Conservation International will tap its partnerships with key international universities such as Arizona State University in the United States to help develop the programs.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Conservation International is the grantee and the University of Guyana a key beneficiary. Conservation International, with over 20 years’ experience in Guyana, will take the lead in managing project objectives and implementation, including success measures as well as financial and reporting requirements of this multi-year partnership. Conservation International has been working in Guyana with over 50 communities to protect nearly 3 million acres of indigenous lands while also improving livelihoods.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>ExxonMobil is placing an emphasis on supporting local priorities, including business and employment opportunities as well as broader community programs in Guyana. The company has spent about US$39 million with local suppliers in Guyana through 2017 and first quarter 2018. Approximately 68 percent of ExxonMobil’s current in-country employees are Guyanese.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>About the ExxonMobil Foundation</strong></p>\r\n\r\n<p>The ExxonMobil Foundation is the primary philanthropic arm of&nbsp;<a href=\"http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.exxonmobil.com%2FCorporate%2Fdefault.aspx&amp;esheet=51830826&amp;newsitemid=20180702005264&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Exxon+Mobil+Corporation&amp;index=1&amp;md5=3e659b1ab1a887927400d50cc233a011\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Exxon Mobil Corporation</a>&nbsp;(NYSE:XOM) in the United States. The foundation and the corporation engage in a range of philanthropic activities that advance education, with a focus on math and science in the United States, promote women as catalysts for economic development and combat malaria.&nbsp;In 2017, the ExxonMobil Foundation, together with Exxon Mobil Corporation, its divisions and affiliates along with employees and retirees, provided $204 million in contributions worldwide.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>About ExxonMobil</strong></p>\r\n\r\n<p>ExxonMobil, the largest publicly traded international energy company, uses technology and innovation to help meet the world’s growing energy needs. ExxonMobil is a global leader in LNG project execution and holds an industry-leading inventory of resources, is one of the largest refiners and marketers of petroleum products, and its chemical company is one of the largest in the world. For more information, visit&nbsp;<a href=\"http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.exxonmobil.com&amp;esheet=51830826&amp;newsitemid=20180702005264&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=www.exxonmobil.com&amp;index=2&amp;md5=aa2d456afcc20bd7634c69d66c22df5f\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">www.exxonmobil.com</a>&nbsp;or follow us on Twitter&nbsp;<a href=\"http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.twitter.com%2Fexxonmobil&amp;esheet=51830826&amp;newsitemid=20180702005264&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=www.twitter.com%2Fexxonmobil&amp;index=3&amp;md5=076b2c2caec79e7d9166ffaf74ce81d4\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">www.twitter.com/exxonmobil</a>. Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is the affiliate in Guyana.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>About Conservation International</strong></p>\r\n\r\n<p>Conservation International uses science, policy and partnerships to protect the nature that&nbsp;people rely on for food, fresh water and livelihoods. Founded in 1987, Conservation International works in more than 30 countries on six continents to ensure a healthy, prosperous planet that supports us all. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href=\"http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservation.org%2FPages%2Fdefault.aspx&amp;esheet=51830826&amp;newsitemid=20180702005264&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Conservation+International&amp;index=4&amp;md5=dd31a979e25e61442cda6d9374acced3\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Conservation International</a>, the groundbreaking&nbsp;<a href=\"http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservation.org%2Fnature-is-speaking&amp;esheet=51830826&amp;newsitemid=20180702005264&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=%E2%80%9CNature+Is+Speaking%E2%80%9D+campaign&amp;index=5&amp;md5=6f76690bab3eafdaf133888b7096f7b1\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">“Nature Is Speaking” campaign</a>&nbsp;and its series of virtual reality projects:&nbsp;“<a href=\"http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservation.org%2Fstories%2Fvr%2FPages%2FMy-Africa-Virtual-Reality-Film.aspx&amp;esheet=51830826&amp;newsitemid=20180702005264&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=My+Africa&amp;index=6&amp;md5=4e634697b4aadc4beacc1662f775e971\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">My Africa</a>”,&nbsp;\"<a href=\"http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservation.org%2Fstories%2Fvr%2FPages%2Famazon-under-the-canopy-virtual-reality.aspx&amp;esheet=51830826&amp;newsitemid=20180702005264&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Under+the+Canopy&amp;index=7&amp;md5=8aa92d9cd784c61c3e9acc260f732052\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Under the Canopy</a>” and “<a href=\"http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservation.org%2Fstories%2Fvr%2FPages%2Fvalens-reef.aspx&amp;esheet=51830826&amp;newsitemid=20180702005264&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Valen%27s+Reef&amp;index=8&amp;md5=0e71947c3f551428808ff38910ad5d0c\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Valen’s Reef</a>”.&nbsp;Follow Conservation International\'s work on our Human Nature blog,&nbsp;<a href=\"http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fconservation.intl&amp;esheet=51830826&amp;newsitemid=20180702005264&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Facebook&amp;index=9&amp;md5=d5a8ee2a79055dd157f41900f03fb269\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fconservationorg&amp;esheet=51830826&amp;newsitemid=20180702005264&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Twitter&amp;index=10&amp;md5=66c86be125343102d1c5816ed9c562cc\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fconservationorg%2F&amp;esheet=51830826&amp;newsitemid=20180702005264&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Instagram&amp;index=11&amp;md5=9006f0e15e2b1aa8a2347b83962c5d76\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fuser%2FConservationDotOrg&amp;esheet=51830826&amp;newsitemid=20180702005264&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=YouTube&amp;index=12&amp;md5=962f42c9b0ef742f244ba6d144cd4a9c\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube</a>.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>About University of Guyana</strong></p>\r\n\r\n<p>The University of Guyana (UG) was established by act of parliament in 1963. It is the country’s leading tertiary institution and Guyana’s only national university. With a current enrollment of some 8,000 students,&nbsp;UG&nbsp;has graduated more than 40,000 students who have gone on to successful careers locally, regionally and internationally. Over 65 percent of its graduates are absorbed in the local workforce. The university is also a major contributor to the national economy and to business and industry. UG expanded in 2000 with the addition of the Tain Campus. It now offers more than 90 undergraduate and post-graduate programs including engineering, environmental studies, forestry, urban planning and management, tourism studies, education, creative arts, economics, law, medicine, optometry and nursing. Several online programs are available and&nbsp;UG&nbsp;also offers extra-mural classes at four locations across Guyana through its Institute of Distance and Continuing Education.&nbsp;UG&nbsp;also offers the opportunity for student engagement in debating, sports, and cultural, religious and professional activities. Visit&nbsp;<a href=\"http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uog.edu.gy&amp;esheet=51830826&amp;newsitemid=20180702005264&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=www.uog.edu.gy&amp;index=13&amp;md5=a305b72cb3990a9e37b769743512e635\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">www.uog.edu.gy</a>.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180702005264/en/ExxonMobil-Foundation-Invests-US10-Million-Guyana-Research\">https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180702005264/en/ExxonMobil-Foundation-Invests-US10-Million-Guyana-Research</a></u></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 679, 688, 'und', 0, '<p>Although the University of Guyana (UG) has started preparing to cater to nurturing skills for the oil and gas sector with its planned opening of a Department of Petroleum and Geological Engineering next January, Vice-Chancellor Ivelaw Griffith says it is only a small part of the comprehensive plans he has for the institution.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“The business of oil and gas is not limited to technology. Coming into the industry, we are going to need people with the education skills and expertise in many areas,” he said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Take law, for example. There is the likelihood that we will need, in the first years, more lawyers and accountants than petrol engineers. There are contracts that are going to be signed, there has to be management and oversight of the agreements, we need people for that. Then there is health and safety. We have to beef up what we are doing in that area… every time there is drilling, there is an Environmental Impact Assessment that is going to be needed. So, that in turn means our Earth and [Environmental] Science faculty has to be beefed up. The works are offshore, so we are going to have to consider what are the environmental marine biology impacts of it. That means we have to poise our marine biology work in the faculty of Natural Sciences to cater for that and the list goes on. Every single faculty needs upgrades to cater for this. Us being an oil and gas-producing country requires us to transition for that new dispensation,” Griffith told Stabroek News in an interview.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Lifting the university’s standards and making its graduates globally competitive are key among Griffith’s plans but he is also passionate about the establishment of a department that focuses specifically on oil and gas training. He believes that it is necessary that locals should be equipped with the education and skills needed to work in a sector likely to be the country’s biggest revenue earner for many years.</p>\r\n\r\n<h4>‘Strengthening the pipeline’</h4>\r\n\r\n<p>It is why he has partnered with the University of the West Indies and the University of Trinidad and Tobago to establish the Department of Petroleum and Geological Engineering.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Last week’s set of events was part of the events to prepare for what I call our oil and gas adventure. Last week, I hosted the President of the University of Trinidad and Tobago [Dr Sarim Al-Zubaidy]. We know that we can’t do this by ourselves. We know that we are going to be establishing a new department and we don’t have all the labs, facilities and lecturers that are required,” he said, while alluding to the week of activities on oil and gas that the university hosted.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>He said based on an invitation he had extended earlier in the year, Al-Zubaidy travelled here. It was during the visit, Griffith said, that he facilitated a luncheon with the UTT President and stakeholders, including government officials, university personnel outside of engineering and technology, the Ministry of Education’s Technical and Vocational personnel and the heads of the technical institutes.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>From the discussions at that meeting, the Vice-Chancellor proposed the formation of a consortium so that all the tertiary institutions could “partner better in preparing for the oil and gas.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Not all the skills needed are going to be at the university level. Some will be needed at the technical college level. We don’t do welding here at UG, we don’t do carpentry and some of those things are definitely going to be needed,” he said. “But we know that persons from the technical institutes come to us to complete their university or associate degrees and we need to strengthen that pipeline. So the consortium is intended to strengthen the pipeline. If there is a lab that we have that is not being used and they need to use it, then they can have. I want to formalise that,” he added.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>To foster and realise the skills needed for global oil and gas accreditation, the Vice-Chancellor said UG will have to look to its regional counterparts for help, initially, and he has started forging partnerships with UWI and UTT.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>But to bring personnel from the universities would require paying them at competitive rates and having local students travel to complete some practicals. It is in this area that the traditionally cash-strapped institution will be turning to government and oil and gas stakeholders for assistance.</p>\r\n\r\n<h4>‘Digging a hole’</h4>\r\n\r\n<p>Government has already committed to half a billion dollars over a five-year period for works in the Technology faculty but more funding will be needed.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“Our university has grown up almost digging a hole to fill a hole, having lecturers having to scrounge to do two, three jobs because you are not paying them enough. We have to change that. The relevant stakeholders and the relevant stakeholders are government, industry and the students, have to be prepared to put the resources into the university,” Griffith said.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“I am very pleased that the government is already beginning to demonstrate that. We signed an agreement with [Natural Resources] Minister [Raphael] Trotman last year where we get $100 million per year, for the next five years, to help shape up what we have in mining and for energy that is coming.&nbsp; I also have a lot of support from the Ministry of Public Telecommunications.&nbsp; But we are not all there as yet, which is why we have to partner. Some of what we know is that we will need some lecturers from UWI to teach some of these courses. So, some of them will come to teach. Some of it will be online, but we also know that we will have to hire new people and we are going to be doing that in several different respects, both for the new department and for the existing departments. We don’t have enough lecturers in electrical, civil and mechanical engineering, so we are going to have to find the money to invest. So, the money is going to have to come from the government, going to have to come from the industry, [going to] have to come from students,” he added.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Griffith explained that the university has a planning committee that is crunching numbers and gathering data to determine how much will be needed annually to fund the new department while meeting local students’ abilities to pay the tuition. He said that he does not want to go to government or any company asking for aid until the university finalises an approximation.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“I have a committee that is working on the general costing but we are also working with UTT and UWI on those two programmes to be delivered in January and we have to finalise the cost. We are not exactly there yet. How much would come from government? I don’t know because I don’t want to go and ask for specific sums and don’t know what we are asking for. We have been getting small things but I am not comfortable that we have all the data as yet to go ask,” the Vice-Chancellor said.</p>\r\n\r\n<div>\r\n<p>“One of the worst things you can do is ask for channa money then to find out what you really need is real money. So, I know people are excited for us to go to Exxon and get US$50,000 now when it will be really US$5 million that is really needed. So we are still having conversations with Exxon and others but we know that we are going to need major investments. We need the data, we need approximate costs. So, when we sit down with them, we can say, “Here. This is what establishing the lab would cost, this is what it would look like, here is what an endowed share in petroleum would be, here is what a professor of practice would cost us annually,” he added.&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>With Guyana is poised to start collecting significant revenue with the slated start of oil production in 2020, he stressed that government needs to invest heavily in education if it wants to see holistic growth.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>“The government needs to take some of that money from oil and gas and put it into education; put it into the university; put it into agriculture and diversify, not just get stuck on oil,” he added.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Article adopted from:&nbsp;<u><a href=\"https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/guyana/07/03/new-petroleum-dept-is-small-part-of-plans-for-ugs-development-vice-chancellor/\">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/guyana/07/03/new-petroleum-dept-is-small-part-of-plans-for-ugs-development-vice-chancellor/</a></u></p>\r\n</div>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 680, 689, 'und', 0, '<p>Professor Ivelaw Griffith, C.C.H, Tenth Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Guyana is please to make the following announcements as part of the university\'s preparation for the First Oil and Beyond.</p>\r\n\r\n<p class=\"rtecenter\">&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"rtecenter\">The Faculty of Technology&nbsp;</h2>\r\n\r\n<p class=\"rtecenter\">has been renamed the</p>\r\n\r\n<h1 class=\"rtecenter\">Faculty Of Engineering &amp; Technology</h1>\r\n\r\n<p>Additionally:</p>\r\n\r\n<p>A new department of <strong>Pertroleum and Geological Engineering</strong> in the Faculty of Engineering and Technology is being planned for operation from January 2019.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p>A Consortium for Post-secondary Institutions <strong>The Higher Education Consortium on Engineering and Mining</strong> - is being established to&nbsp;streamlined and strengthen education delivery and</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>New Associate and Masters degree programmes in Petroleum Engineering</strong> will be offered from January 2019 in conjunction with the University of Trinidad and Tobago and the University of the West Indies.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"rtecenter\"><u>New Programmes</u></h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The University will also be offering several new degree programmes:</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;- Bachelor of Nursing (Berbice Campus, September 2018)</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;- Associate of Civil Engineering (Berbice Campus, September 2018)</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;- Bachelor oh Psychology (September 2019)</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;- Masters in Psychology (September 2019)</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;- Bachelor in Youth Work (January 2019)</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;- Masters in Medicine - Orthopaedics and Traumatology (September 2018)</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;- Bachelor of Science in Food Safety (January 2019)</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n', '', 'full_html'),
('event', 0, 682, 691, 'und', 0, '<p>6th Conversation on Law and Society -&nbsp;Challenges Of and To Reparations for People of African Descent in the 21st Century</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('event', 0, 688, 697, 'und', 0, '<p>The University of Guyana invites entries for&nbsp;<strong>THE UNIVERSITY OF GUYANA PRESS LOGO COMPETITION</strong>. The winning logo will become one of the identifying symbols of the university and it will be used on all our communications including our website, conferences, presentation materials and media releases.</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 691, 700, 'und', 0, '<p>The University Council met in extraordinary session on July 27, 2018 and considered and approved proposed changes to the University of Guyana Act and the University Statutes, which are the key components of UG’s governance. In relation to the Act, the changes include reducing the membership of the University Council from 26 to 17 and removing the provisions for special interests and international representation from Britain, Canada, the USA and UWI.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>These changes are the result of a series of stakeholder consultations conducted by the Governance Review Committee, which was approved by the University Council in November 2016. The final revised report and the proposed changes were presented by the Chair of the Governance Committee, Professor Lawrence Carrington, a former UG Vice-Chancellor. The Council adopted the revised Act by majority vote and will send the recommended changes to the Ministry of Education for appropriate governmental and legislative considerations. Only the University Act needs legislative action; the University Council is responsible for approving the revision of the Statutes.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><br />\r\nThe Chancellor, Professor E. Nigel Harris, was elated with the result, noting “I am tremendously happy that Council has fulfilled one of the central mandates of the April 2016 Transformational Task Force with respect to university governance. The recommended changes will better empower both the Council and managers of the university while ensuring accountability to government and other university stakeholders.” He continued: “I thank Professor Lawrence Carrington and his committee as well as the university community and Council members who engaged over a two-year period to enable completion of this important task”.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Meanwhile, Vice Chancellor Ivelaw Griffith said “The decision to approve the revision of the major governance architecture of our 55-year-old university is a significant milestone in our institutional maturation. If adopted by the National Assembly, the revised Act will remove some of the blurred lines between the policy making role of the University Council and the operational management of the institution, and strengthen its autonomy.” Like the Chancellor, he noted: “I deeply appreciate the hard work of the Committee Chairman Professor Lawrence Carrington and the team and the many stakeholders who labored in the reform vineyards for almost two years.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In relation to the Statutes, the Council approved a series of revisions. Among other things, they relate to the Officers of the University, committees of the Council, the powers of the various committees, the Alumni Association, and discipline of students and staff. The revisions that were not settled have been referred to a sub-committee of the Council, with a view to the final adoption of the entire document at the Annual Business Meeting in November.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Council also considered the term of office of Professor Harris, which ends this August, and in keeping with its authority under Section 9 (1) of the University of Guyana’s Act, it unanimously approved the extension of his tenure through November 2018, to permit him to preside over the 2018 Annual Business Meeting and the 2018 graduation. Additionally, a committee was established to recommend terms of reference and a search process for a new Chancellor. The proposed terms and search process will be reviewed at a special session of the Council and a final decision made at the forthcoming Annual Business Meeting.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Council also endorsed the drafting of a proposal for the establishment of a UG Foundation and the advancement of negotiations for the proposal related to a two thousand-seat auditorium that will be funded by a major gift. The two items will be the subject of intra-university consultations, with the final proposals approved by a future meeting of the Council..</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Turkeyen Campus, Greater Georgetown</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Tel #: 222-5402</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Email: publicrelations@uog.edu.gy</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 692, 701, 'und', 0, '<p>With a current enrollment of some 8,000 students, The University of Guyana (UG) has graduated more than 20,000 students who have gone on to successful careers locally, regionally and internationally. The University is also a major contributor to the national economy and to business and industry. Established in 1963 on a part-time basis with shared space at Queens College, UG moved to its own campus at</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Turkeyen in 1970 and expanded in 2000 with the addition of the Tain Campus. It now offers more 116 under-graduate and post-graduate Programmes including<br />\r\nthe Natural Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Studies, Forestry, Urban Planning and Management, Tourism Studies, Education, Creative Arts, Economics, Law, Medicine, Business, Optometry and Nursing.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Several online programmes are available and The UG also offers extra-mural classes at four locations through its Institute of Distance and Continuing Education (IDCE). The UG also offers the opportunity for student engagement in debating, sports, and cultural, religious and professional activities.<br />\r\n<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />\r\n<!--[endif]--></p>\r\n\r\n<p>Public Relations Division<br />\r\n<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />\r\n<!--[endif]--></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('document', 0, 694, 703, 'und', 0, '<p>Amended July 31, 2018</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('document', 0, 695, 704, 'und', 0, '<p>Final Orientation Flyer</p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 696, 705, 'und', 0, '<p>The University of Guyana, School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation (SEBI) in partnership with Ground Structures Engineering Consultants Inc. (GSEC), FUGRO, Guyana Goldfields, Worley Parson and the Guyana Telephone, Telegraph Company recently held a local content forum titled “<strong>Local Content: A Mechanism for Capacity Building towards Enhanced National Development.</strong>”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The two day forum which was held from July 23-24, 2018 at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, had over 250 participants. It was intended to educate the Guyanese populace on what is Local Content, answer questions and queries on how local content policies can be beneficial to the government, private sector, local communities and more so how it can facilitate the national development of Guyana.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Presentations were made by international, regional and local speakers, who shared their knowledge, research and experience, in an effort to generate a common understanding of the potential benefits of local content policies and the conditions that led to successful outcomes of nations around the world.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The event’s programme discussed several topics including: Local Content and Economic Growth, Combating the Dutch Disease, Skill Development and Knowledge Transfer through Local Content Policy, social consequences of Oil and Gas discovery, Building Sustainable Business through Local Content, Local Content and the Environment, and Educational Investment and Local Content Policy.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Concerns were highlighted on how local businesses can be affected by the local content policy, what new business opportunities can emerge as a result of policy and how this will affect the way in which business is done in Guyana, with particular emphasis on national development goals around the green economy.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Professor Leyland Lucas, Dean of SEBI, in his address said “I am concerned that there are two things happening in our nation today, a great deal of noise about what local content is and its implications for our development and the development of the future generations.” He continued: “The flipside of this is silence, an unwillingness to educate ourselves over the past few months about what local content is, what it means for our current lives and our lives in the future and what it means for generations to come, and so somewhere between that silence and that noise lies education.” He went on to further note the importance of education to understanding issues of local content. Local content is not just about doing business with oil and gas entities, it’s about building competencies and capabilities needed to transform this nation into a Green Economy.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The University of Guyana’s Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Ivelaw Griffith in his opening remarks opined “Many of us are uncomfortable with the mediocrity we see in society, the cutting of professional corners, charging clients for one thing but giving them substandard product and service, we have got to practice what Aristotle recommended many years ago, when he said ‘we are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act it is a habit.’ ’’ He noted: “If we don’t strive for continuous improvement we will be lamenting losing in our own nation, because others coming to seek the fortune here know of the value of excellence, know of the value of being on time.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Mr. Charles Ceres, CEO, GSEC in his keynote address noted said that “Local content policies must provide resources to The University of Guyana to ensure an appropriate curriculum is developed to train persons to address both the current needs of the natural resources sector and transference of those skills to other sectors of the economy.” He asserted: “Companies operating in the natural resources sector must be involved in development of a local content policy. Their involvement must be predicated on a commitment by these companies, both local and foreign, to the training and development of individuals to increase the pool of locals who can work in the natural resources sector while ensuring that the skills acquired can be translated into other sectors of the economy.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>All partners demonstrated several examples of their approach to local content. Fugro highlighted its work with local firms in helping to build industry-specific capacity, while investing in Education from the primary to the tertiary levels. These investments were seen as particularly beneficial to the broad society, as they help to enhance the opportunities for growth in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Ground Structures Inc., in their presentations, focused significantly on the training offered to its employees through its partnerships with other firms. Much of that training was both industry specific and general, providing knowledge that could transform their contributions to the broader society.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Guyana Gold Fields highlighted their focus on growing local businesses, many of which were not directly associated with the mining industry. These examples of local content emphasized ways in which firms could build capacity and managerial skills to become vibrant within the economy. In one instance, that capacity building has allowed the firm to become a major exporter of local products. Worley Parsons also emphasised their collaborative work with local and regional partners in helping to develop capacity beyond the direct needs of the industry.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>In closing, Professor Lucas charged participants with the task of becoming local content ambassadors. He suggested that all attendees inform their friends, neighbours and acquaintances about the importance of local content, what it means for the national agenda, how it could impact our lives, and the development of a vibrant economy.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>Public Relations Division </strong></p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>August 20, 2018.</strong></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 697, 706, 'und', 0, '<p>Five graduates of The University of Guyana have applied for the inaugural Guyana Innovation prize, which was created in February 2018. The Prize aims to promote and support research and ideas of students, staffers and alumni of the university, in the areas of Technology and Agro-Processing. It intends to create commercially viable and sustainable businesses that would boost the private sector and enhance the economic development of Guyana. This initiative is facilitated through the Guyana Economic Development Trust, an independent U.S. Philanthropic Organisation, founded and overseen by Guyanese diaspora members in the U.S.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The first batch of applicants with business ideas are UG alumnae who participated in the University\'s Undergraduate Research Conference, which is designed to nurture research talent and bring viable ideas to the fore, the particpants are follows: Lisa Dublin (Chemistry) - Activated Carbon for Water Purification - Household Consumer Product; Shavon Sharif (Agriculture and Forestry) - Organic Fertilizer - Agribusiness; Rebecca Harris (Chemistry) - Natural Antifungal Agent - Pharmaceutical Consumer Product; Juanelle Marks (Natural Sciences) - Computerized Cognitive Behavioural Learning Aid – Ed Tech Product; Tandika Harry (Agriculture and Forestry) - Natural Preservative for Fruits and Vegetables – Agribusiness.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Prize which is scheduled to be held annually, is awarded on a competitive basis; and applicants are required to participate in the Trust mentorship (founder coach) programme, which spans a 12 month period. During this period, student, staff or alumni is paired with a mentor from either Guyana or the US, whom will give regular advice and guidance to participants on how to grow and develop their business ideas.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>After the mentorship phase, the applicants will make a business pitch to a panel of judges who will decide whom to award the Innovation Prize, which will be in the form of funding to launch the winner\'s startup business. This year, mentors are industry experts in the US who will expose applicants to startup best practices, contacts, and international markets for their business ideas.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Applications for The Prize will open again in April 2019. In order to apply for The Prize, the following criteria are required 1. Must be a current UG student, faculty, or be alumni living in Guyana 2.Have a well-researched and commercially viable tech or value-added agriculture product/idea 3. Be “coachable” (willing to take direction) in order to build a business case that will be unveiled at the Innovation Prize showcase.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>More information can be found at www.theguyanatrust.org.</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>Public Relations Division </strong></p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>August 21, 2018&nbsp;</strong></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html'),
('news', 0, 698, 707, 'und', 0, '<p>“Attaining my secondary school education has been a gigantic accomplishment in my life. I attended the J.C Chandisingh Secondary School (JCCSS) 2011-2016, a highly recognised school in Berbice.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>During my time at JCCSS, I learnt many valuable lessons about who I am and the world around me. Secondary school has revealed to me my strongest and most valuable passions in the subjects of Social Studies and English Language. I also recognised my gift of public speaking in Grade 10.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Moving on to my university education at the University of Guyana Berbice Campus (UGBC), I am currently pursuing a degree in social work and things have truly changed drastically, compared to high school. Tertiary education is more challenging, but yet it is still worth it. Responsibilities and finances have also increased. University can also be very time consuming, especially in my major. University has taught me and is continuing to teach me proper time management skills, balancing my social life with my academic life, and critically analysing occurrences that may affect me by applying my tertiary knowledge in real life. At the end of the day, I am able to extend valuable words or ideas to others. Considering all the life rewards that education has given me, I fell in love with the challenges that extend within my mind.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>I constantly crave more knowledge. This is my experience so far in the education system, and I strongly feel that education deserves the best of our efforts and perseverance. It teaches and gives us more than a certificate to showcase, more than just a bank account, more than you can ever imagine.” The above story is that of Ms. Ashminie Persaud, a first-year social work student who hails from Number 68 Village on the Corentyne. If we have similar stories to that of Miss Persaud’s, then we should count ourselves lucky. Whether, it was only a high school education up to the tertiary level, public or private schooling or even home schooling, you’re lucky enough that you were fortunate to be offered an education, in a still developing country.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Education is the act or process of imparting or acquiring particular knowledge or skills. Therefore, education is a word of action. One must put in the necessary work and sacrifices in order to attain education. Education comes in three forms; formal (schooling), informal (our home training, television, recreational books, etc.) and non-formal (adult-life skills and abilities). It is important that we indulge in all three for a better and successful life. Apart from a career opportunity and the acquired skills, education opens up a door to many more doors. It opens the door for equality; gender, economic and social status. I am starving to witness a world where everyone is equal and if I can’t, I can only hope my children or their children witness it instead. I see education as a means of erasing the inequalities and differences in our world. It gives the minority a chance of achieving more than they can imagine. Due to poverty or no job opportunities, many persons would also turn to stealing. Your weapons should be books not guns.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>My father would tell me stories of himself and brothers growing up in a single-parent household. He always showed me how education helped him to escape poverty, and despite your situation, just like he did, you can do it too. Education makes one more fully aware and mindful. Being knowledgeable equals less ignorance. We can also better differentiate right from wrong. Being educated about our laws, your rights and responsibilities as a citizen overall, makes the communities we live in safer and better. As Malala Yousafzai said, “One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.”<br />\r\nOur future as a nation depends on the skills and knowledge of our citizens as well. Our economy on a whole, in all of its sectors, solely depends on education. The upcoming oil industry requires its workers to gain a solid and well-rounded education background for it to succeed. Our future politicians, doctors, lawyers, public servants, janitors, clerks, all not only need the power of education but also deserve it. Lastly, education allows you to be self-dependent. The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you. Your education may help you obtain a good job/career choice; and in return a good job means you are able to achieve financial independence through your income. You should be your first priority.</p>\r\n\r\n<p>Education is a human necessity, just as food, water and shelter. It should be accessible to EVERYONE, until then, we will continue to see a global decline in the lives of humans. I imagine a world where students in Africa find the cure for HIV/AIDS, a world in which girls in the Middle East are empowered to be working and career holders just as the men, a world in which a Guyanese man can visit the moon, a world in which we can all strive to make dreams reality. I imagine all of this through the powerful tool of education. William Allin’s quote summed up my entire take on this topic. He said, “Education is not the answer to the question, Education is the means to answer all the questions.”</p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>Source:&nbsp;http://guyanachronicle.com/2018/08/22/the-value-of-a-good-education</strong></p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>22nd August 2018</strong></p>\r\n', '', 'filtered_html');
