‘Writing checks your mouths can’t cash’ 

Dear Editor,

“A guaranteed job at the end of your studies” this is what many of us were promised when we applied and accepted the scholarships that the government had offered. Many of us are not financially able to pay the tuitions for school and thus have no choice but to seek scholarships from the government to have a chance of bettering ourselves, in return for receiving this chance, we accept the conditions and stipulations put in place by the government to pay them back for the investment they made in us.

And yet it has been almost ten months since my colleagues and I have finished our education at the Guyana School of Agriculture and have yet to be placed at a job befitting our skill set. When speaking to my fellow colleagues and listening to them voice their frustrations about this situation, one thing has become abundantly clear, it is not the waiting that has everyone upset; it is the lack of information and urgency. Several times, I have contacted the Public Service Ministry and have been informed that it is now in the hands of the Ministry of Agriculture to make these decisions but from the numerous conversations had with the MOA correspondents you would believe they had no idea that there were students to be placed and you’d be right in thinking so because all of the conversations end with the same sentiment “we have no information about that at this time.”

Dear editor, my colleagues and I are tired of being pushed around. We are tired of waiting day after day for a call that seems like it may never come. We cannot pursue full time jobs for fear of having to leave said job a week later because the government has finally deemed us worthy of employment. We are sick of having to dial a number everyday just to be told that there is no information. It is a helpless situation where we find ourselves in a state of anger, frustration and desperation, we are kindly asking for feedback from the minister, from the government officials as to what is going on in terms of being placed at a job. I hesitate to ask if it is because we are the recipients of scholarships from the previous government if that is why we are not being viewed as a priority to the new administration but with the recent happenings in our country, I am inclined to believe so. We hold no political agenda against the government. We are simply budding public servants asking to be served, asking to be listened to but most importantly, asking to be answered.

Regards

A stressed out graduate