PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday implored the second batch of 94 Guyanese students who will be leaving for Cuba shortly to pursue tertiary education in various fields to return to serve their country so that Guyana can generate an adequate cadre of professionals to accelerate national development.
President Jagdeo, in a charge to the scholarship awardees at a farewell function he hosted yesterday at the historic Umana Yana in Kingston, Georgetown which also serve as an orientation session for them and their parents/guardians, said "this is a wonderful period in your life; make sure you use it well and make sure you come back to serve your country well."
"I am asking you to fulfill your dreams and be successful in your studies ...make good use of this privilege" the President exhorted.
He urged the students to maintain high levels of discipline, morality and commitment to their studies, and being worthy ambassadors of their country. "You must respect yourselves and the culture of the land you will be studying," the Guyanese Head-of-State told the students while simultaneously reminding them to always bear in mind that the Cuban Government was not compelled to grant the scholarships and they must consider themselves fortunate to have benefited from "this most generous gesture of Cuba", a gesture which he said is even more generous in the light of the economic difficulties Cuba is facing as a developing country.
President Jagdeo also shared his experiences during his studies abroad, especially while in Russia. Mr. Jagdeo stressed that there will be difficulties because of a difference of culture and environment, however, he impressed upon them the need to rise to the challenge and to not allow those difficulties to deter them from successfully completing their studies, because they have an obligation to themselves and all those who have contributed to making the scholarships a reality.
He advised the students to begin by trying to understand the culture and environment of Cuba, so as to be able to become adjusted to the lifestyle there. He even urged them to have "fun" but to always remember that "study" should be their number one priority.
The President, in a similar charge like he delivered to the first batch of scholarship awardees last year, encouraged the students to use their time constructively and to explore and seize opportunities to develop other useful skills, apart from their main field of study.
Public Service Minister, Dr. Jennifer Westford, and Permanent Secretary in the same Ministry, Dr. Nanda Gopaul made it emphatically clear that those students who are guilty of indiscipline and do not respect the laws of Cuba will have to return home.
Both Westford and Gopaul cautioned the students that they are representing their families and are ambassadors of their country, hence they must ensure that they at all times carry themselves in a respectable manner.
Westford, who was apparently not pleased with reports coming out of Cuba of the unacceptable level of indiscipline exhibited by some Guyanese students already studying there, was particularly severe in her warning to this second batch in the Guyana/Cuba scholarship programme and urged the students not to become involved in counter-productive activities and to always remember that their primary goal in Cuba is to study, and as such they must not allow themselves to become distracted from their studies.
Cuban Ambassador to Guyana, Mr. Jose Inclan Embrade, said the gesture of the scholarships will help to further strengthen the strong bonds of friendship that exists between Cuba and Guyana.
Student Affairs Officer in Cuba, Dr. Leslyn Campbell briefed the students and parents about the living standards and university life in the Communist Republic.
"One of the problems that we have had not just with Guyanese students but students on the whole is the issue of drinking problems," Dr. Campbell said.
"It seems that some students once they get to Cuba and they're out of moms and dads domain suddenly feel that they can throw all the principles they were taught through life out of the window and we begin to see some strange behaviour," she asserted.
"So on the contrary, that is when, most of all, you will need to hold on to the principles that were instilled in you by your parents and your teachers at school...I cannot stand here and tell you not to drink but I can tell you that drinking is prohibited in the University because of problems associated with misconduct and poor performances in class," she told the students quite emphatically.
Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President, Ms. Jennifer Webster indicated that of the 94 students scheduled to leave Guyana on September 26 on a specially chartered Universal Airlines direct flight from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri to the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Cuba - 27 will be pursuing studies in human medicines; 7 in physical therapy and rehabilitation; 2 in nutrition science; 1 in computer science; 3 in sports; 1 in architecture; 2 in automation engineering; 3 in chemical engineering; 8 in civil engineering; 3 in computer engineering; 11 in electrical engineering; 8 in mechanical engineering and 2 in communications and electronics; 1 in agriculture mechanization; 4 in the area of agronomy; 2 in forest engineering and 8 in veterinary medicine and zoo techniques and one in dentistry.
She noted that during the first year of study the students will be studying Spanish before moving directly to their specialized field of study.
Some 350 scholarships were offered by the Cuban government as a result of discussions that were held between President Jagdeo and Cuban President Fidel Casto during discussions in Havana in 2001.
This newspaper yesterday also spoke to a few of the Scholarship awardees after the orientation ceremony and all of them expressed a deep sense of commitment and patriotic feelings and promised to be good Ambassadors of Guyana and strive to be exemplary scholars of whom the entire country would be proud.