“Resource-trapped” UG fails to attract qualified staff – Deputy VC

…says salaries cannot sustain persons of pedigree

Despite increased tuition and other related fees at the University of Guyana (UG) in recent times, the institution is still grappling to pay highly-qualified persons to facilitate classes, resulting in many of them leaving.

Deputy Vice Chancellor of UG, Professor Paloma Mohamed on Thursday explained that the institution has been suffering from lack of resources for many years and as such, some of their operations are stymied.
“The University has suffered, like most parts of the country, for many years from lack of resources; not because a lot of resources were not put into the university but because the country did not have the fiscal space to do everything that we needed it to do”.
She responded to criticisms faced about their competency in publication and research, stating that it is because they have failed to retain individuals who are qualified to fill these roles. Again, the lack of resources is to be blamed.
“This is the kind of thing that happens when you are a resource-trapped university…A lot of time, people would say that ‘UG is not producing research, UG is not producing that kinds of publications that we want to see’. The reason why this is the case is because we have failed to attract and retain the king of pedigree and the level of staff that we need. That’s just because, again, back to resources”, the Deputy VC noted.
Further, she added that the current salaries paid to their staffers are incapable of financially sustaining them. There are only some instances where persons stay due to family ties or research work.
Presently, more than half of the staff population have acquired a master’s degree or below. While some hold a doctorate, they are part of the administrative body and are not in charge of daily classes.
“We have not been able to pay the way that was basically attractive so we kept people. The salaries cannot sustain anybody of pedigree being here…The University’s own kind of dysfunctional faculty distribution is something like that and it is not like this in most other places. We have about 63 per cent of the people working with master’s degrees and below. We have about 30 PhDs in the whole University, which is about 10 per cent and about 50 per cent of those are in higher administration and not teaching,” she related.
The Audit Office of Guyana had contracted an independent company to conduct the much-needed and highly-anticipated audit into UG – in light of allegations of mismanagement of funds. Back in June, the probe was halted until officials could figure out who would stand the cost of the investigation.
Auditor General Deodat Sharma had noted that the backlog of years which UG did not complete its audited financial statements was a cause for worry.
“The issue [is] UG’s audited [financials] were up to 2017. They’ve now submitted financial statements for 2015. So we still have 16, 17, and 18 due. So until you get those statements and audits up to date, you really can’t do a proper audit, unless you do a special investigation in particular areas,” Sharma was quoted as saying.
UG’s administration has previously been accused of wanton spending— including hosting several events, standing the expenses of meals and accommodation for guest speakers, as well as hiring select individuals, paying them super salaries, and sending large delegations overseas, all on the University’s bill. Former Vice Chancellor, Professor Ivelaw Griffith had always denied those claims.