The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government must first apologise to the Guyanese society for denying students the constitutional right to free education from nursery to university, which is unambiguously spelt out in the 1980 Constitution of Guyana. So said Shadow Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Roysdale Forde S.C in response to President Irfaan Ali’s announcement that from 2025 education at the University of Guyana (UG) will be free.
Speaking with Village Voice News about the announcement made yesterday by the President during his address to Parliament, Forde said the PPP government must take “full responsibility for holding back and denying many Guyanese, particularly from poor backgrounds, who could not afford to pay for a university education. According to the Member of Parliament (MP) were that right respected many more would have had the opportunity to escape poverty. Studies found absence of education hinders opportunities for poverty alleviation and balancing socio-economic development in society.
In 1994 the PPP government introduced fee paying at the UG, contrary to Article 27 of the Constitution of Guyana that prescribes it as a right and stipulates it be free- “Every citizen has the right to free education from nursery to university as well as to non-formal places where opportunities are provided for education and training.”
Fee paying is both a violation of the constitution and an egregious policy that saddles students with mountainous debt or denies them opportunity for further learning, development and an escape from poverty,” the senior counsel told this publication.
The PPP Government has nothing to be proud of and should hang its head in shame, Forde contended. He also said that it is important for Guyanese to remember it was the People’s National Congress (PNC) government, led by Forbes Burnham and Desmond Hoyte that saw the value of education to a nation’s development. It is thanks to the PNC’s vision thousands of Guyanese, including me, were able to pursue university education and got opportunities to succeed, the senior counsel intoned.
Going further, Forde said many Guyanese were not born with a silver spoon in their mouth and while he does not begrudge anyone so fortunate, only an uncaring government would put roadblocks in the way to prevent its citizens from thriving. “That is what fee paying did for many who wanted to pursue university education,” he declared.
With concern reflected in his voice, the shadow minister said the PPP must not only reinstitute free education but the Government must find a way to reimburse those who paid. “A mechanism must be put in place to reimburse Guyanese for the violation of their rights through a punitive and wicked economic policy.”
President Ali had added his voice to the global Reparative Justice campaign for the human atrocities associated with chattel slavery, he must use that model as a guide to establish a system of reparative justice to repay those students who paid fees at the UG, the MP asserted. It is his contention Guyana can afford the reimbursement and must atone for the wrong inflicted on its citizens. And to this end, the shadow attorney general said his colleague, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall S.C “must address his mind to this issue and accordingly advice President Ali.”
Forde also shared his experience when travelling around Guyana and talking with individuals. “Guyanese are smart and want to do more for themselves and country but are being held back by punitive policies that hinder their desire for development,” he said. The young child in Albouystown, Charlestown and other depressed communities is as intelligent as any Guyanese living in better neighbourhoods but are being kept back, he pointed out.
“For years, the PPP leadership has driven past these areas and turned their noses up on communities that they have kept depressed by their policies,” he reflected. The MP said the scenario is pervasive throughout the country, as he calls on “the Guyanese people to continue to agitate for better treatment from the government and prudent spending of the oil money.”
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, who is also the PPP General Secretary, said Government will set conditionalities to write off student loans which suggests the PPP Government is determined to continue the violation of Guyanese constitutional right to free education from nursery to university.
Guyana is the world fastest growing economy and the richest per capita. In 2024 Guyana is expected to receive at least US$2.5 Billion from oil and gas earnings.
