Dismissed University of Guyana (UG) lecturer Freddie Kissoon’s age and unimpressive research profile made him ineligible for retention, according to university council member Indra Chandarpal.
When asked why the concern over limited research by Kissoon were raised after his more than two decade tenure at the university, Chandarpal told Stabroek News that it was because he had reached the age of retirement and the university “needs rejuvenation.”
“After 60, you need to advertise and compete… If you keep the people who have reached the age of retirement and have not proven themselves, then the younger people won’t get a chance in the system,” she stated.
Chandarpal explained that after reaching the age of 60, a person’s research profile is reviewed and if it is felt that they have done exceptionally well then they would be suitable for retention.
“Lecturers must feel obligated to do research… must know books and new trends and stuff like that. This is something we’ve been discussing within the council for sometime now. They need to have healthy research,” Chandarpal insisted, while adding that the council has been getting complaints of having numerous lecturers who have passed the age of retirement.
Chandarpal and other PPP/C representatives on the council had said in a joint statement that Kissoon did not qualify for retention based on the university’s criteria, including the need for published academic research.
In response to the statement by the PPP/C councillors, Kissoon, in a letter published in Thursday’s Stabroek News, noted that he worked for 26 years at UG with no complaints about his academic performance.
“Last September, my faculty awarded me a contract to teach courses for which there was no applicant,” he added, while noting that a similar situation existed throughout the university.
“No one in Guyana can be so foolish to think after serving UG for twenty-six years, suddenly the academics and administrators at UG in January 2012 discovered that I wasn’t a good performer and wanted my services terminated one week before UG opens,” Kissoon also wrote.
Meanwhile, President of the University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) Dr. Patsy Francis has said she spoke to Chandarpal after she and other protestors confronted her at a meeting on Tuesday. She added that she reached out to Chandarpal even before receiving a letter from Vice-Chancellor Professor Lawrence Carrington directing her to make an apology.
“I spoke to Mrs. Chandarpal, who is actually a friend of mine, because I did not get the impression that we had abused her so I was taken aback by his letter but before I got the letter I decided I would call her and asked if she felt any way threatened or so and she said no,” she explained.
Francis said that she has reassured Chandarpal that there was no intention of harming her in any way, especially after she has been recognized as one who played a significant role in the support system of the university.
“She is really a friend of the university… It is just that at this point in time she is apart of the council and the council as a body has taken certain decisions to which we are opposed,” she said.
The ‘Operation Rescue UG’ protest action against Kissoon’s abrupt dismissal continued as well as the conditions under which they study and work at the Turkeyen campus on Thursday and Friday. The protest is being led by the University of Guyana Students Society, the University of Guyana Workers Union and the UGSSA.
Francis stated that the planned sit-in will officially begin on Tuesday and students are being asked to attend classes to show their support although there will be no teaching. “We would like them to come and we will be here and we will go to the classrooms but will not teach,” she explained.
She noted that all the lecturers at the university are in support of this movement. “Some are supporting by visibly being here, some of them are supporting by doing other things… March is not all we are doing.
We have other initiatives we are putting in place, such as the letters we have sent out, and we are appearing on several television programs,” she stated.
Further, Francis said that she and other supporters of ‘Operation Rescue UG’ are willing to come off the picket like if the council is convened to address their concerns.
When asked why issues of the deplorable conditions were raised at a time when focus was placed on Kissoon’s termination, Francis said the students have protested in previous years but to no avail. “The students did have a protest sometime last year, just before elections, and the previous year but no one has been listening including the administration,” she noted.
