Dear Editor,
I had the honour of attending UG`s 6th 2025 convocation. I was most impressed by the acceptance speech of Ms. Fernandes, who was conferred with the Doctorate of Letters, Honoris Causa. Her acceptance speech, alone, made her worthy of the conferral. Academia is about the search for truth, and the humility of knowing that there is always much more that is unknown, than the known. Ms. Fernandes embraced those qualities in her acceptance speech, and deserves the accolades of her bestowers.
It is rather unfortunate that on this occasion, the platform for the search for truth became a platform for revisionism. The hundreds in attendance, in person and virtually, and those who will have subsequent access to the recording of that convocation ceremony were and will be, respectively, regaled by the President of the Co-operative Republic and the President of the Berbice chapter of UG`s alumni, with an account of an historic aspect of Guyana`s History that is revisionist. They both hailed, quite emphatically, the introduction of free tertiary education as of 2025.
I refuse to believe that the nation`s President, and the President of the Berbice Chapter of UG`s alumni do not know better. Free education was introduced from the nursery to secondary level, in Guyana, in 1976 under the stewardship of the then President, LFS Burnham, SC, OE.
Let not the University of Guyana be the platform for revisionism, be it wittingly or unwittingly. The University must be the impenetrable citadel, and protector of truth. Our true History must be preserved and propagated. The University is one of the institutions that has that responsibility, which it must fulfill at any and/or all cost.
Yours truly
Vincent Alexander
for The Burnham Foundation
