A decision by the Queen’s College Board of Governors to deny the Queens College Alumni Association of New York (QCAANY) access to the school’s computer laboratory for its annual Summer (July/August) Mathematics Institute has come under fresh scrutiny after educator and mathematician Dr. Cleveland Waddell publicly juxtaposed the board’s assessment of the programme with glowing remarks delivered just a year earlier by Acting Chief Justice Navindra Singh, whose daughter attended the camp.
In a detailed social media post titled “Two Documents. One Story About Education in Guyana,” Waddell published the board’s July 1, 2026 rejection letter alongside the Acting Chief Justice’s address at the closing ceremony of the 2025 Summer Mathematics Institute, inviting the public to compare the two documents and decide which more accurately reflects the programme that has served Guyanese students for nearly a decade.
“I encourage the people of Guyana to read both. Then decide for themselves which better reflects the Summer Mathematics Institute that students, parents, volunteers, and educators have experienced since 2016,” Waddell wrote on July 3.
The Summer Mathematics Institute was established in 2016 by QCAANY’s Education Committee to expose secondary school students to advanced mathematics, programming, computational thinking and problem-solving in a collaborative learning environment.
Although hosted at Queen’s College, the programme has never been exclusive to the institution. Waddell explained that approximately half of the annual intake comes from Queen’s College, while the remaining students are selected from secondary schools across Georgetown, reflecting what he described as a longstanding belief that educational opportunity should extend beyond the walls of any one school.
Each year, approximately 35 students participate free of charge.
The programme is funded entirely through sponsors and delivered by volunteers. Students receive two weeks of instruction, meals, transportation, educational materials and field experiences at no cost to themselves or their families.
“This is not simply a summer programme. It is an investment in young people and in the future of education in Guyana,” Waddell wrote.
He explained that the programme has also evolved into one that develops future educators.
Beginning in 2024, outstanding graduates of the camp were invited to return as assistant tutors, creating what he described as a sustainable model in which former participants mentor the next generation.
“Our goal is simple: today’s students become tomorrow’s assistant tutors, and tomorrow’s assistant tutors become future instructors,” he said.
One of those returning assistant tutors this year was the daughter of Acting Chief Justice Navindra Singh. Waddell stressed that she was selected solely on merit.
“At the time she was selected, I had no idea who her father was. She was chosen on merit, just as every returning assistant has been.”
Despite the programme’s track record, QCAANY received a letter dated July 1, advising that the Board of Governors could not approve the use of the school’s computer laboratory for the camp, which was scheduled to begin on July 20.
The board cited the alleged failure to submit supporting documents, including details of the programme and speakers, and stated that the claimed educational benefits of the Summer Mathematics Institute “do not align with reports received by the QC-Board of Governors, with particular reference to feedback from the Queen’s College students.”
It also reminded QCAANY that such requests should be submitted through the Queen’s College Old Students’ Association (Guyana).
For Waddell, however, the timing of the decision was as troubling as its substance. He noted that by July, planning for the camp had already been completed.
Sponsors had committed funding. Former students had arranged to spend two weeks of their summer mentoring participants. The curriculum had been finalised, field trips coordinated, transportation booked and meals organised.
“A denial at this stage is not simply a decision on the merits,” he wrote. “It is a decision delivered after nearly everything has already been built — with nineteen days left on the clock.”
Rather than speculate about why the request was denied, Waddell said he wanted the public to compare the board’s conclusions with the testimony of someone who experienced the programme first-hand as a parent.
At the 2025 closing ceremony, Acting Chief Justice Singh described the Summer Mathematics Institute as a transformative educational experience.
Speaking about his daughter, he said she entered the programme curious but uncertain and emerged more confident, independent and willing to embrace leadership.
“She didn’t just excel academically — she grew as a person. Her confidence bloomed, her independence sharpened, and her belief in her own potential deepened,” Singh said.
He credited the camp with helping prepare her for success, noting that she later won the national SHOUT speech competition before returning as an assistant tutor.
The Acting Chief Justice also praised QCAANY’s broader contribution to education in Guyana, noting that the association had invested in scholarships, science education, technology, mental health support and laboratory upgrades over several decades.
He reminded parents that the organisation had donated the first computer laboratory to Queen’s College and continued to invest in improving educational opportunities for students.
“It is therefore difficult to ignore the irony that the very computer laboratory made possible through the generosity of QCAANY is now unavailable for a programme that has served Guyanese students continuously since 2016,” Waddell observed.
His post ultimately leaves the public with a question extending beyond a dispute over access to a school facility.
If a volunteer-driven programme that has operated for nearly a decade, served students from multiple schools, attracted sustained private sponsorship and earned public praise from parents—including the Acting Chief Justice—is unable to secure access to the very facility donated by its organisers, what message does that send about the value placed on educational partnerships?
More importantly, what does it mean for the dozens of students who now stand to lose an opportunity to strengthen their mathematical skills, explore programming, develop critical thinking and build the confidence that previous participants say has shaped their academic and personal growth?
Those are the questions the Board’s decision has now placed before the country. The issue is no longer simply about the use of a computer laboratory. It is about whether educational opportunities built through volunteerism, philanthropy and years of sustained commitment will be nurtured—or allowed to disappear—at a time when Guyana continues to speak of investing in its greatest resource: its children.
