President Ali presents scholarships to three GDF soldiers

His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, today, made good on his pledge to improve the educational opportunities for ranks of the Guyana Defence Force.

The Head of State presented Corporal Ryan Jordan, Lance Corporal Nikolai Moore and Private Michael Yarde with scholarships, in keeping with a commitment made while visiting soldiers stationed at Kaikan in Region 7 (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) last week.

During that visit, the President had said that three of the ranks stationed in the bordering community will benefit from University of Guyana scholarships.

“We were in Kaikan and I asked the soldiers from among themselves to select who they thought were priority in gaining scholarships…They selected these three officers and for this I thank them.”

In addressing the GDF ranks today during their annual Christmas Lunch at Base Camp Ayanganna, President Ali said the scholarship presentation was the tip of the iceberg and that the soldiers will benefit from many other opportunities moving forward.

He pointed to the significance of giving them the power to select their peers which he said will contribute to empowering the unit to make decisions collectively. He stressed too that this approach will help to foster an environment in which ideas could be shared through constructive and strategic discussions. “We have set aside a special number of training opportunities… this time it is not top down, this time the units will select who they believe is not only most qualified, but who they think should be given the priority. This is the way we are going forward.”