GINA -- THE three hundred and fifty scholarships to be awarded to Guyanese students between the ages of 16 and 25 have been selected in disciplines that are necessary for Guyana's development.
This was pointed out by Permanent Secretary within the Office of the President Ms. Jennifer Webster at the orientation ceremony hosted for he second batch of awardees of Cuban scholarships under the Government of Guyana/Cuban Specialist Awards Scholarship Programme.
"It was felt that there was need to place greater emphasis on specialized training in these areas, if Guyana clearly continues on its path of development. We have to recognize that over the years, our young people have had improved performances at both the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination Level (CAPE)," she said.
According to PS Webster, there must be scope for young people to continue to strive for excellence at the Tertiary Level, as "development in any country is based upon the means by which there is preparation for future roles with increased and wider responsibilities by maximum utilization of its resources. Human resources will always be considered a very major and vital resource to any developing country, and more so here in Guyana.
"Thus, training and development has become increasingly central to performance improvement strategies throughout all the global economies in the world of organizational and technological advancement."
In 2001, the Government of Guyana under the Guyana/Cuban Joint Commission, secured 350 scholarships over a three-year period in the fields of Medicine, Engineering, Agriculture, Sports and Culture.
Government made 117 awards available to students for the academic year 2002/ 2003, but only 94 slots were taken up.
Below is a list of allocations based on geographic locations and field of study for 2002 and 2003.
For the academic year 2003/ 2004, the Government was able to secure scholarships in the fields of Dentistry, Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Mining, Metallurgy, Hydraulic and Geological Engineering.
"It was quite unfortunate that none of the applicants this year showed any interest in pursuing studies in the fields of Mining, Metallurgy, and Hydraulic & Geological Engineering. The above-entioned fields are vital to Guyana's development in the Mining, Metallurgical, Geological and Water Sectors," PS Webster said.
This year recorded increased offers of scholarships in the field of engineering - in fact 38 awards were made this year as compared to 20 in 2002.
"The quality of applications was found to be quite competitive. In fact, the Office of the President received 119 applications from interested applicants to pursue studies in the field of Human Medicine. However, due to limited allocations, only 27 awards have been made for the academic year 2003/2004, along with one award in the field of Dentistry. The response has been indeed overwhelming, despite the fact that there were some interested applicants who were above the specified age limit of 25 years," she said.
Ms. Webster also pointed out that this year the gender composition comprised 65 male awardees and 29 females.
She also urged the awardees to live up to all expectations, and to remember that they are Guyana's ambassadors when they are in Cuba.