GOAL students will not be abandoned – GS Jagdeo

Students who are beneficiaries of the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) scholarship programme can be rest assured that the government is committed to ensure that no one is left behind.

General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Dr Bharrat Jagdeo made the assurances, in light of mounting concerns about the validity of the GOAL programmes listed at the University of Staffordshire, United Kingdom.

He reiterated that there has been challenges with the International Skill Development Corporation (ISDC), the facilitator of the programme and the university due to a change in management, which are currently being resolved.

Leading this resolution is GOAL Director, Professor Jacob Opadeyi, a former vice chancellor of the University of Guyana, with many years of experience.

“I have great faith in his ability to ensure that our people they get a good quality education … He said to me today that they have a meeting between the two entities to sort this out. ISDC is accredited globally… he awaiting the completion of the meeting in London to know about the way forward. It’s not fake, nothing is fake,” he informed reporters at his press conference on Thursday.

If the challenge is not addressed and the partnership cannot go on, Dr Jagdeo said students will be placed at other institutions.

“If they can’t sort it out, there are two other universities in the United Kingdom that will accept the grades that people got,” he affirmed.

Dr Jagdeo, who also holds the vice president portfolio made it clear that the government stands ready to support, and no one will be left on the ‘way side’.

In an interview with another section of the media, Professor Opadeyi revealed that himself and a team from GOAL initiated discussions with officials from both institutions and feedback was expected by Thursday.

The GOAL programme is yet another transformative undertaking established by the PPP/C Administration to ensure the human resource pool is qualified and skilled to complement Guyana’s burgeoning economy.

Students have the privildeg of completing programmes offered by the academy in the comfort of their own homes. Almost 30,000 Guyanese have received scholarships to date, with thousands successfully completing and graduating from the various programmes.