GOAL announces halt of partnership between ISDC & University of Staffordshire

…says other UK universities being engaged to transfer students & credits

The Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) has announced that the partnership between the United Kingdom (UK) based University of Staffordshire and International Skill Development Corporation (ISDC) has been discontinued, citing unsuccessful attempts to resolve disputes related to said partnership.
Over the past few weeks, GOAL has faced challenges over its partnership with UK based Staffordshire University. GOAL courses through Staffordshire were supposed to be facilitated by ISDC. According to GOAL in a press statement on Monday, it received a letter from the University to this effect.
“At a meeting on November 30, 2023, a GOAL representative met with the leadership of the University of Staffordshire (UOS) and ISDC at UOS’s London Campus to discuss collaboration in delivering undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes to Guyanese students via the SQA progression pathway. The meeting was productive, resulting in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between ISDC and GOAL.”
“Under this agreement, GOAL scholars would pursue their degrees through the ISDC progression pathway, leading to UOS qualifications. Subsequently, UOS officials issued a letter to GOAL confirming this arrangement, while ISDC’s Executive Director provided a similar confirmation in writing,” GOAL explained.
GOAL further said that affected students will be advised on their options by weekend. GOAL explained that despite 1,400 Guyanese being awarded scholarships through this partnership, it was not until late January of 2025 that they became aware that students could not access their courses.
“Multiple efforts were undertaken to address these issues, including three virtual meetings with affected students. Initially, the difficulties pertained to a mismatch in course offerings, access to the Learning Management System (LMS), and inaccuracies in course matrices.”
However, the situation escalated into a dispute between UOS and ISDC over the implementation of their partnership and according to GOAL, at no point prior to this had either institution formally notified them of the breakdown in their collaboration or its implications for Guyanese scholars.

Alternatives
Amid the challenges, GOAL students had been assured over a week ago that alternatives would be made available should the dispute persist. In its statement, GOAL explained that these challenges have still not been resolved, owing to unsuccessful efforts to engage directly with the University’s leadership.
According to GOAL, legal representatives from both parties are currently negotiating a solution but in the meantime the partnership has been terminated. Further, GOAL noted that ISDC is in talks with five other UK universities- Arden, Queen Margaret, West Scotland, Wrexham and Cardiff Universities, to have these students and their credits transferred. Meanwhile, GOAL in its statement apologised to the scholars and assured them that details of their available transfer options would be given by this weekend.
“GOAL sincerely apologises to its awardees for the inconvenience and frustration caused by this situation. We assure them that every effort is being made to safeguard their academic progress. Affected scholars will be contacted before the end of the week with details of available transfer options within our network of partner universities,” the learning platform further said.
Since assuming office in August 2020, Government has granted some 29,758 Guyanese citizens GOAL scholarships. Of that number, 5,980 individuals secured master’s degrees and PhDs.
In 2024, the Guyana Government approved almost 8000 GOAL scholarships, representing the Administration’s continued efforts to ensure the country’s workforce and populace is better educated and skilled.
During a press conference earlier this month, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo was questioned about rumours mainly being spread by members of the opposition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), which alludes that monies set aside for the GOAL programme where not being utilised for its intended purpose.
Jagdeo had dismissed these claims and any notion that the GOAL programme provided substandard education. Additionally, he had assured that no GOAL student would be left “by the wayside”.