Lecturer’s “totalitarian behaviour” ends in exam disaster – UGSS accuses

The University of Guyana Students’ Society (UGSS) has been mobilising students to refrain from participating in a macro-economic survey, after their last examination ended disastrously when concerns raised beforehand went unaddressed.

In a public notice to their members, the student advocacy body advised UG students not to conduct the Macro Economics (ECN 1200) survey this time around. It was noted that additional concerns raised have once again been ignored.
The UGSS contended that the lecturer of the subject, and by extension the Department Head, would

have disregarded previous concerns by students during the last examination – a situation which ended in shambles.
“All persons that are asked to do a survey about Macro Economics (ECN 1200) are asked by the UGSS to refrain from doing such. The UGSS is of the firm belief that the lecturer of the subject, moreover the Head of Department, failed to listen to the students leading up the exam about concerns raised about said exam,” UGSS said.
After the last encounter, the body said the oppressive nature of the situation is the main reason for resisting new instructions. It went on to say that until the survey is adjusted to capture the concerns of students and “realistically” address them, the survey will remain undone.
“It turned out to be an absolute mess of an exam for all participants, which stemmed from proposed concerns students raised pre-exam. The students, along with the UGSS, believe that the survey does not capture the true nature of the problem, which has to do with about 80 per cent of the totalitarian behaviour of the HoD. Until that survey can be adjusted to capture our students’ concerns and realistically address it, the students will not take that survey.”
<<<Guyana Times>>> would have sought a comment from newly-appointed Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paloma Mohammed but calls went unanswered over the weekend.
Over the past years, UGSS has been left to advocate for better services at the tertiary institution such as objecting against increased tuition fees among other issues.
Since the closure of campuses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, online classes were facilitated in what was dubbed a ‘safe mode’ operation. However, reports of students venting their frustration about the institution’s response in addressing concerns have been circulating since late April.
It was indicated that while many would have tuned in for classes, the classes are plagued with assignments, instead of discussions and actual teaching sessions from lecturers.
One final year civil engineering student had related that because of the amount of coursework given, many persons were unable to complete them by the given deadline. Some had approached one lecturer for an extension to the submission date, but this was not granted.
Instead, the lecturer reportedly told the student that they should “ask God” to help them finish.