The University of Guyana (UG) will next month be introducing a mandatory human relations course for its staff and the student body a part of a respect programme that was due to begin this weekend.
According to a statement issued by UG’s Transitional Management Committee on Friday, the roll out of the programme was “unanimously endorsed” by the Academic Board and Council last Tuesday.
The statement explained that the programme is aimed at “supporting exposure, dialogue and modelling appropriate attitudes and behaviors amongst” UG’s community of staff and students.
It added that it will include the human relations course, a mural campaign on the Turkeyen and Tain campuses, and T-shirt and social media campaigns beginning this weekend.
The statement did not address the rationale for the programme.
UG’s Transitional Management Committee, however, has recently been criticised over its response to the case of a student who was recorded making a racist joke at the Turkeyen campus in a video that went viral on social media.
When asked, University of Guyana Student Society (UGSS) President Jafar Gibbons said it was not clear whether the programme is directly related to the behaviour of the student in the viral video. He said he was also aware that the UG board has had a diversity programme even before he was elected Student President.
Efforts to contact Deputy Vice-Chancellor Paloma Mohamed were unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, the statement explained that the new course, Human Relations 101, said to be the first of its kind, will be cover 5 modules over a 12-hour period and would be offered online or face-to-face. It was noted that all students and staff would be required to take the course as a prerequisite for graduation or career development, respectively.
The statement said the five modules are: M1: Soft Skills – Etiquette, self-care, grooming, emotional intelligence, Social Media etiquette; M2: Gender and Social Justice – including sexual harassment, disabilities and violence; M3: Guyanese History and Cultural Diversity- including race, religion and nationalities; M4: Intro to Entrepreneurial Thinking; and M5: Guyanese Geographies, including physical, legal, environment and Civics.
“The University is collaborating with various individuals and entities to develop and deliver the course to ten thousand of its staff and students in the next year. Collaborators include the Ministry of Social Cohesion, the Carnegie School of Home Economics, SEBI, and the Institute of Peace Action…,” it further said
The course is to begin in January, with two weekend offerings at Turkeyen and Tain to 300 faculty and staff members, who can volunteer to take the programme in its initial test phase.
The statement advised that UG’s Facebook page and websites should be checked from December 20th for details of how to participate and register.
Additionally, the statement said a mural painting exercise at the Turkeyen and Tain campuses and a social media and T shirt campaign focusing on five hashtags (#UGloveeachother, #UGrespectdiverstity, #UGThinkb4uClick, #Careb4Ushare and #UGPeaceforGuyana) was due to begin this weekend and run through April, 2020.
The university’s task force credited with developing the programme is led by Mohamed, who is Chair of the Transitional Management Committee. Other members of the task force are: Gibbons, as student body president; Dr. Paulette Henry, Social Worker and Director of the Centre of Excellence for Teaching and Learning; Dr. Jewel Thomas, Sociologist; Nelsonia Persaud-Budhram, Director of the Centre for Communication Studies; Lisa Edwards, Researcher in the Institute of Gender Studies; Daniella King, Assistant Registrar Students Welfare; Juanita Cameron, University Counsellor; and Prof. Gomathinayagam Subramanian, Director of the Berbice Campus.
