`I am going to try to make sure that people from all across the country go on these scholarships...people from the hinterland regions, the rural areas...' - President Jagdeo
by Mark Ramotar
CUBA'S offer of 350 scholarships to Guyana will be open to students from around the country, including poor young people who would have had little other opportunity of becoming a doctor or other specialists, President Bharrat Jagdeo has promised.

The scholarship offer over a five-year period, including about 100 for next year, was extended during his visit to Cuba late last month for talks with President Fidel Castro.

The President said the outcome of the two-day visit was going to make a whole lot of difference in the lives of many, many young people here.

"I want to thank the Cuban Government for their generosity in this area," he told reporters at the Office of the President in Georgetown Friday.

Mr. Jagdeo said the focal point of discussion during the visit was the area of human resource development, an issue which was a key factor in his going to Cuba. He was accompanied on that trip by Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation, Mr. Clement Rohee.

"I am very, very thankful to the Cuban Government and I think that all of us in Guyana should appreciate this wonderful gesture of Cuba through their offer of 350 scholarships to Guyana over the next five years."

This offer, he said, would allow the Government to send on these scholarships many poor people who may not have a chance of ever becoming a doctor, engineer, agronomist or some other specialist because of the economic circumstances they face.

"...they will not have to pay a cent in this regard (and) they will have a free education and at the end of that period they will hopefully come back to serve their country," President Jagdeo said.

"So next year we're going to send 100 students and I am going to try to make sure that people from all across the country go on these scholarships...people from the hinterland regions, the rural areas, Linden, some low income areas in Georgetown and we also have to target people, especially very poor young people who are qualified to go on these scholarships."

A conservative value of the scholarships was more than US$10M, he said.

He noted that Cuban President Fidel Castro has also promised to send Cuban specialists here as this country may need or require.

Mr. Jagdeo said he was a bit cautious with this offer because a needs assessment will have to be done to see the specific areas where the Cuban specialists will be required to offer their expertise.

He said he informed President Castro that this offer will be discussed further when the Guyana-Cuba joint commission meets later this year.

"...but I am hoping that we can have some very specialised skills in some areas where we have shortages and also some of those specialists can come here and work with Guyanese and help train them," he added.

President Jagdeo also noted that Guyana can learn in many ways from the Cubans, especially in education and health care and how they have been able to effectively utilise the limited resources in those areas.

"President Castro was very gracious and he spent a great deal of time speaking to me about the achievements of Cuba (and) the challenges that Cuba has faced in the past and is facing (currently)..."

"...and if there is one lesson that third world countries can learn from Cuba, especially Guyana, it is the lesson that they have managed to do so much in the social sector - in education and in health care - with so little resources," he said.

He described this as "a very, very productive use of resources in those sectors" and said "it's an admirable experience and achievement".

Mr. Jagdeo is optimistic that Guyana can work out an arrangement with Cuba and Brazil for language courses in Spanish and Portuguese to be taught here on a mass basis.

He said he in Cuba discussed with officials the possibility of that Caribbean island preparing a total Spanish course which can be taught here on a mass basis through the medium of television, radio and within the school system.

Private individuals who want to learn Spanish can buy these courses at a nominal fee "so that we can approach the teaching of Spanish on a mass basis", he said.

"I hope that we can work out something very similar with the Brazilians so that we can teach Portuguese also on a mass basis," President Jagdeo said.

According to the Guyanese Head of State, this was essential given the developments that will take place here.

He said he and President Castro also discussed many other issues like South-South cooperation, the upcoming challenges and negotiations of the Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM) of the Caribbean Community.

They also reviewed the regional scenario in terms of the difficult situation that many Caribbean countries face because of the reduction and the problems in tourism and which were largely associated with the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

He noted too that there were also some difficult issues that were faced by these countries even before the September 11 attacks and these too were discussed.