While thousands of students would have written the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination with the hopes of gaining a scholarship to pursue tertiary studies, they will have to wait on the oil revenues for free education.
Education Minister, Dr Nicolette Henry
This was the view shared by Education Minister, Nicolette Henry earlier this week during the announcement of the results, where she stated that they will continue to offer one scholarship.
“We’re aiming to have tertiary education free here in Guyana. In a not too distant future, I think the issue of scholarship for tertiary level would no longer be a relevant question…I suppose that getting the scholarship based on the CSEC performance, it will always be the coveted prize. There will just be one best performer…That’s it. That will continue to be competitive,” the Minister stated.
When reminded that the prospects of oil have not yet impacted the Guyanese people, Henry referred to other means by which students can obtain scholarships. While the Public Service Department offers a number of grants each year, it is restricted to some areas of studies.
She said, “The Public Service [Department] would offer scholarships for areas where we do not have the disciplined being offered in Guyana so that will continue. Once the University is free, I believe the issue of the competitiveness in terms of being funded and supported would no longer [exist]. There are options”
“Scholarships are offered not only through Government but through other means. They’re international scholarships being offered. The British offer the masters level…and several other scholarships through commonwealth and so forth.”
President Granger had said that income from the petroleum industry would be used for free education at all levels.
“No Guyanese child needs to pay for primary education because of the foundation created. As I said in Union Village (Number 53 Village Corentyne on August 1, 2019), in anticipation of revenues from our petroleum industry, education will be free not only at the primary level, or secondary level but also at the tertiary level,” he was quoted as saying.
However, Guyana is still in the discovery phase, with extraction scheduled to begin until 2020. Along with ExxonMobil’s massive discoveries, Tullow Oil also made a strike with its first discovery of oil in commercial quantities at the Jethro-1 exploration well in the Orinduik Block. It is the second company to discover oil offshore Guyana. It was also recently announced that Qatar’s state oil company is looking to enter into Guyana’s oil market with a farm-in deal through Total.
The CSEC results were announced on Wednesday, where Riana Toney of Anna Regina Multilateral School copped the top spot with 19 Grade Ones. Overall, Guyana secured a 73 per cent pass rate, the highest ever achieved by the country.
