Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh sees no reason to warrant the closure of the University of Guyana (UG) and has dubbed suggestions by the university’s Vice-Chancellor (VC) Jacob Opadeyi that insufficient funding may necessitate a shutdown by the second week of the coming semester to be reckless.
On Wednesday, Opadeyi told a press conference that closure is an option if only a minority of students are able to pay the “amended” tuition fees announced last month.
Yesterday, Opadeyi clarified that the shutdown would entail the closure of programmes that are not adequately subscribed to, as opposed to a total shutdown of the university’s operations.
A significant amount of UG’s students seek loans to pay tuition fees and the Ministry of Finance has not yet indicated whether it will offer loans to match the increased fees.
If sufficient fees are not collected, Opadeyi has said, the university would not be able to cover its liabilities,
