UG students call for better facilities

Several students of the University of Guyana on Thursday called on Government to pay attention to the deplorable conditions in which they have to study and learn.
They also lambasted the University of Guyana Student Society (UGSS) for not doing enough to lobby for more meaningful infrastructural changes and upgrades to be effected at the Turkeyen Campus.
The students contend that since the coalition Government entered office, they have only been promised that the University would be transformed and modernised, with special emphasis being placed on upgrading its edifice and improving the quality of education on offer.
“It’s a very sickening situation. The campus buildings need repairs, the classrooms are filthy and not conducive to learning, and most, overcrowded. This situation has to change,” Kamini Persaud, a student of the Faculty of Social Sciences, explained.
“We need the administration and Vice Chancellor to place more emphasis on addressing the burning issues that are affecting our stay here. I think that it would take little to nothing out of these big officials to meet with the students to listen to what can be done to make our lives better,” Jermaine Thomas opined.
The students have said that while the University has improved its registration process, there is still a lot of confusion when new students attempt to go through the process to become fully registered.
“The staff (are) most times rude, petty, and unhelpful. This is another area that I feel like the Vice Chancellor’s attention (should be called to). And maybe the Education Minister can intervene and provide the professionals here with some sort of training and development that would see them treating students and prospective students better,” another student who asked not to be named suggested.
The students feel that their elected faculty representatives can do much more to advance these causes, but often become bogged down by their own personal situations and end up frustrated by the non-action by the University on many fronts.
“Security is also another issue that I feel strongly they should address. There are a lot of robberies taking place around the Campus, and when you have to leave here late at nights, it does be very scary,” Padma Persaud explained.
Students have, for years, been complaining about the deplorable conditions that they have to study in, but only when there are serious protests and lobbying by students is ad hoc work started, and then halted as soon as things return to normalcy.