Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana Paloma Mohamed-Martin has revealed that the institution is owed a whopping $600M in outstanding tuition fees from its students.
She made the disclosure during the University’s Annual Business Meeting on Thursday.
The Vice Chancellor pointed out that despite the large sum of monies owed, the University still allows students to complete their education even though it puts the institution at a slight disadvantage.
“We have allowed them to continue studying and we’re collecting fees from them as they can pay and that of course is not very good for our cashflow but it’s good for the country,” Mohamed-Martin expressed.
“Because what’s going to happen, if we say ‘if you can’t pay’, and we stop you from learning, what’s going to happen to all that pent up talent and energy and all those needs that we have. So, the University has taken that decision to relax its fees.”
The Vice Chancellor further noted that the subvention the University receives from government funds only about 50%-60% of the workers’ salaries. Annually, they receive about $3B but she posited that the institution needs about $7B.
“One of the critical things that people do not understand about the university and its funding is when they hear that the university gets a government subvention, they think that… funds everything for us and it actually does not…”
According to Mohamed-Martin, other expenses are generally covered by fees, grants, and revenues earned from the rental of their facilities.
UG has seen tremendous growth since its launch on October 1, 1963. UG was first created as a small collage and it has since expanded into a mid-sized university with over 10,000 students, more than 1,500 staff and over 500 on-campus visitors daily.
Additionally, the University has met another milestone this year with the hosting of its largest graduation, with a total of approximately 3,000 graduates.
