OFFICE of the President, the Ministry of Public Services, the Cuban Ambassador to Guyana and a representative of the Ministry of Higher Education from Cuba yesterday held a meeting with parents of the Guyanese students who are studying in Cuba on scholarships, regarding their behaviour and other issues of interest.
The meeting, at the Umana Yana, saw a large turnout of parents and relatives of the students.
The representative of the Ministry of Higher Education in Cuba, Francisco Martinez, urged parents to visit Cuba and maintain good contact with children who are studying in Cuba.
He spoke of some problems affecting the institution where some students are spending too much money and engaging in unethical behaviour.
In some cases, there have been a rising number of pregnancies within the student body, which is of grave concern to educators, he told the gathering.
One Guyanese student is likely to be sent back to Guyana after it was discovered that she is pregnant.
According to Minister of Public Service, Jennifer Webster, that student will not be allowed to return to Cuba to continue studies because they left under the Guyana/Cuba Special Scholarship Programme to study and not to get pregnant.
She pleaded with the parents not to send large sums of money to their children because they are using the cash to engage in extra curricular activities, which are affecting their studies.
She admonished parents that there is no need for them to send money since students receive a stipend and are provided with food and medical attention.
Mr. Martinez assured parents that their children are well taken care of and there is no need to worry about their hygiene and diet as many questions were asked by parents regarding arrangements to ship food stuff and monies to Cuba for their children.
To date there are 234 Guyanese students studying in Cuba.
The Cuban Scholarship Programme is managed under the auspices of the Ministry of Public Service in collaboration with the Office of the President.
Under the scholarship programme, 131 students left in the first batch and 103 in the second. The Government provides a stipend of $50 Canadian per month to each student.
Martinez noted that some 800 students at one time indicate that they did not wish to return to their birth country and that was a serious problem, which had engaged the attention of the institution.
After completion of studies students return to their birth country and work with the Government for five years before they seek alternative arrangements of work.
Also present at the meeting were Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, Cuban Ambassador to Guyana, Jose Manuel Inclan Embade, Permanent Secretary of the Public Service Ministry, Reginald Brotherson.