Min McCoy encourages Buxtonians to pursue GOAL scholarship programmes

Government’s vision to transform the nation’s academic standing could see many communities countrywide producing prominent scholars in the coming years.

The community of Buxton on the East Coast of Demerara will not be left out of Government’s vision to transform the nation’s academic standing resulting in many communities countrywide producing prominent scholars in the coming years. Public Affairs Minister, Kwame McCoy disclosed these plans, as the administration vowed to provide major support to advance education in the area.

McCoy pointed out that the government stands ready to accept Buxtonians who are interested in furthering their education. Minister McCoy made the disclosure during the government’s ministerial outreach to the community on Monday.

The minister urged persons there to take maximum advantage of the free learning courses, through the Guyana Online Academy for Learning (GOAL) scholarship programme, which is currently benefitting some 6,000 Guyanese. “We value education, we want our people to be more advanced educationally. Your education value means that you have a very good training place for the future in terms of your job, in terms of your business and therefore, we want you to do better,” the minister stresed.

McCoy revealed that the scholarship programme is a manifesto promise made by the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) during its run on the campaign trail. He said that President, Irfaan Ali – led administration it will make available 20,000 scholarships for the nation’s people. McCoy emphasized that the administration is willing to make further investments to surpass the 20,000 earmarked due to the overwhelming interest received to date.

The minister issued a call to prospective scholars to provide their information at the conclusion of the meeting. It was noted that representatives from the ministry and the GOAL secretariat will conduct a follow-up exercise, lending support to the application process. Further, a sum of $1.3B was approved for GOAL in Budget 2022. GOAL is being prudently managed by the Education and Public Service Ministries.

Meanwhile, GOAL scholarships are geared at equipping citizens across the country, with the knowledge and qualification for self and economic development, through courses offered by internationally recognised higher learning institutions. GOAL’s Director, Dr. Jacob Opadeyi was quoted as saying that close to 5,000 people are qualified for the scholarship programme this year, out of the 6,000 who applied.

It was revealed that the Government has made it possible for Guyanese to undergo distance learning in 187 programmes, offered through 30 universities. Additionally, last year, the government awarded 6,000 GOAL scholarships to Guyanese.