Ms. Ashwannie Harripersaud, Bachelor of Education

Juggling family, a fulltime job, publishing academic articles, dealing with a host of other personal and professional commitments; all while being a final year student at the University of Guyana, is certainly not an easy feat. But 36-year-old Ashwannie Harripersaud, an educator by profession, has proven that she has what it takes to be resilient and make her mark in the education sector.

Harripersaud, a Senior Assistant Mistress at the Canje Secondary School in Berbice, will be one of over 2,2oo graduands who will “walk” the virtual graduation stage when the University of Guyana hosts its series of virtual graduation ceremonies beginning February 4. 

The proud mother of two has successfully completed the requirements for a Bachelor’s Degree in Education.  She explained that even though the final year of her studies was extremely demanding. Yet, she managed to publish eight full-length academic articles in international, scholarly, refereed journals. She also co-authored a scholarly book on West Indian Literature which was accepted for publication by Austin Macauley Press in the United Kingdom. The book, entitled Wholeness and Home in West Indian Literature, will be available in February 2022.
 
Some of the articles that were published during her final semester at UG include: “The Classroom Re-Imagined and Re-Designed: The Pandemic-Ready Teaching and Learning Station”; “The Quadratic Equation Concept”; “Matrices: Concepts and Real World Contexts”; “Dueling Banjos: Classroom Contrapuntal: Creole versus English”; “A Review of Daizal Samad’s The Mirror Tells its Tale”;  “History Through Place Names”; “Psychological/Perceptual Inhibitors to the Teaching/Learning of Mathematics”; and “The West Indian Emerges: George Lamming’s In the Castle of my Skin”.

Ashwannie also has several other articles on language and culture under consideration by international journals. She insists: The intent of my publications effort was to be demonstrably multi-disciplinary in approach. My thinking: no single academic discipline can establish the interconnectedness of things.  

According to Harripersaud, one of the most challenging periods of studying at the University of Guyana (UG) was having to shift gears from having physical classes to online learning. "Online learning defied real interaction with other students and with lecturers,” she shared.
 
Despite the challenges of online learning and not being able to physically communicate with peers and lecturers, she praised the University for the role it played in helping her to become a well-rounded and more confident individual. “I am more thoughtful and self-aware rather than being self-serious and arrogant,” she said.  

“There were lecturers who were driven to truly teach by example and to involve themselves in unheralded scholarly accomplishments. These were the people who drove me to think deeply about this noble profession called teaching, to understand that t0 teach well needs a philosophical sub-structure, that original scholarship is both a moral and professional obligation,” the proud UG graduand explained.  

Reflecting on her days on Campus, Harripersaud noted that if she were to go back in time she would tell herself to shut out the noise and ignore the gossip. “I would aspire to be lofty in scholarly ways and be more self-critical,” she remarked     . 

When asked about her experience as a student at UG the young educator responded : “My most fond memory was sitting in a class where we were encouraged to think about things far beyond our limited individual experiences, a class that conveyed information with ease while allowing us students to learn more about ourselves: why do we think the way we think? Why do we see what we see while neglecting to see other things? Why do we behave the way we do and act the way we do? Why do we speak as we do and relate to others in ways that we do? This was joyous and refreshing indeed - to leave a class knowing a bit more about myself, my country, and my world.  ”      

This is the 55th Convocation for the Turkeyen Campus and the 20th for the Berbice Campus. 

The graduation dates are as follows:

Friday, February 4, 2022

•           Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry

•           Faculty of Engineering and Technology

•           School of Entrepreneurship & Business Innovation

Saturday, February 5, 2022

•           College of Medical Sciences 

•           Behavioural Sciences & Research

            Faculty of Natural Sciences

Friday, February 11, 2022

•           Faculty of Social Sciences

Saturday, February 12, 2022

•           Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences

•           Faculty of Education and Humanities

•           Institute of Distance and Continuing Education – Degree and Diploma Programmes Only

Members of the public can celebrate graduands and view this year’s ceremonies on the University of Guyana’s Facebook page @uniofguyana.

This year several new academic programmes will see graduates for the first time. These include disciplines such as Associate of Science - Petroleum Engineering, Bachelor of Science - Accountancy, Bachelor of Science - Entrepreneurship, Bachelor of Science - Marketing, Bachelor of Science - Supply Chain Management and Bachelor of Science - Environmental Science, among several others.

Like the March 2021 Convocation, events this year will be even more special since the University administration is consistently underscoring that the great resilience displayed by students to complete their degrees in very difficult circumstances of COVID-19 deserves to be richly applauded and celebrated.

A record number of attendees are expected this year since due to the online nature of the event, there will be no limit to the number of invitees who can join the proceedings.

UG Help Desk numbers for clarity on any matter relating to the graduation ceremonies are now open as follows: Turkeyen: 623-1941, 623-1867, 623-1869, 623-1871, 623-1924, 623-1868, 623-1942, 624-1943, 623-1944, 623-1945, 623-1946, 623-1948; Berbice (Tain): 623-1943 or 623-1949; and IDCE: 642-7009, 623-0359, 642-7007, 624-1269.

Prospective graduands can also check the FAQs on the University’s website at https://uog.edu.gy/convocation-2021.

The annual graduation exercises are a highlight on the University’s calendar of institutional events since it provides not only an opportunity for celebrating the efforts of students, lecturers, families, and supporters but for stirring graduation speeches from valedictorians and high-profile keynote speakers.

The University of Guyana has graduated upwards of 50,000 graduates in its 58-year existence - many of whom have gone on to serve at the highest levels nationally and internationally.

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UG IN BRIEF

The University of Guyana is the 58^th-year State University of Guyana. It offers 136 programmes in over 60 disciplines online and face-to-face in 8 campuses across Guyana. With a student population of now 10,000, UG has provided education, learning, and research for over 50,000 alumni. The mission of the University is to discover, generate, disseminate and apply knowledge of the highest standard for the service of the community, the nation, and of all mankind within an atmosphere of academic freedom that allows for free and critical inquiry. UG's forward-thinking Blueprint 2040 is currently setting the course for the University's future design and institutional response to the changing needs of Guyana.

Contact:      

Ms. Krest Cummings

Public Relations Officer

Department of Events Conferences and Communications (DECC)

592-623-5104