Dear Editor,
I read with interest about the 50th Convocation of the University of Guyana held at its Turkeyen campus. In the presence of staff, special invitees and well-wishers 1628 students received their various certificates, degrees and diplomas, followed by exhortations from the keynote speaker, Dr Vincent Adams, a representative of the first batch of students who graduated from the university with a degree in Civil Engineering. In his address, the speaker urged the graduands to put their acquired skill, knowledge, vision and innovation to good use by investing in the productivity and progress of their homeland. Ironically Dr Adams is currently based in the US as a Field Manager for the US Department of Energy.
Of further irony is the fact that the day previous to the graduation the media carried reports about the plight of 23 trained Medex. Following graduation from the University of Guyana, after having been required to extend their completion date by one year, they were yet to be employed. Compounding this is the fact that they had all signed contracts with the Guyana government via the Ministry of Public Health, on the understanding that they would be assigned to various health centres throughout the ten regions. Furthermore, it was reported that they were unable to get past the secretaries to reach the minister by telephone.
Graduation speeches and the call to give back to your country and your alma mater must be matched with visible action, otherwise they are mere rhetoric. In today’s world humans will seek avenues that would best assure their survival, even if that avenue terminates at the portal of an iron bird. Everyone knows that Guyana cannot afford a further brain drain. Now that the government has irrigated the minds of these young people, then it behooves them to act responsibly in order to cultivate a receptive environment. I am calling on both the government and the university authorities to think about growing unemployment while accepting new admissions.
Yours faithfully,
Yvonne Sam
