Local journalists with 10 years and more experience could soon read for a Master’s Degree through the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) Scholarship programme.
GOAL’s Director, Dr. Jacob Opadeyi made the announcement last Wednesday, during the final day of the National Media Conference and Symposium, at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC). “Actually, we are looking to have a rolling admission system that can start now and we wait until the university grants the person the admission,” the professor noted. The GOAL secretariat has been in talks with an international university in Germany and the Texila University in Guyana to offer the courses. And while the studies will be made available in a number of communication fields, the admission for the programmes will be done at the university’s discretion. “I am sure other universities are looking at the same thing, because UWI (University of the West Indies) does the same thing,” Dr. Opadeyi added.
He said the professionals will have to submit their Curriculum Vitae (CV) that shows the years of service. The information will be forwarded to the respective learning institutions. The GOAL Scholarship was conceptualised under the PPP/C Administration in 2021, with the aim of providing 20,000 online scholarships within a five-year period.
The dynamic move is a commitment made by the government to provide opportunities for educational development nationwide. Over 8,000 citizens applied for the free-online programme within the first year of the scholarship launch. Already, approximately 5,000 persons are qualified for the GOAL scholarships this year, out of the 6,000 who applied. A sum of $1.3 billion was approved for GOAL in Budget 2022. The government through GOAL, partnered with eight new institutions to meet the challenges and demands of various sectors in Guyana. This includes the oil and gas sector, engineering and construction. (DPI)
