Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and the Public Service, Dr Ashni Singh, on Friday announced that nearly 2,000 Guyanese are set to graduate from the Government’s Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) during its third graduation ceremony, scheduled for 9 and 10 June 2025 at the National Cultural Centre.
In addition to the upcoming graduation, Dr Singh revealed that 9,179 Guyanese have been awarded scholarships for 2025, bringing the total number of scholarships granted since the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) assumed office to 39,000 — nearly doubling the 20,000 pledged in the party’s 2020 manifesto.
Speaking at the announcement, Dr Singh described GOAL as “a flagship initiative” of the PPP/C Government, stating:
“The Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL), as it has come to be known popularly, is a flagship initiative of this People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Government. It was initiated by President Ali, in the first instance, in our manifesto as we prepared for the 2020 elections, and it aims to provide educational opportunities to those who wish to upgrade their qualifications, including by obtaining post-graduate qualifications, as well as to give opportunities to those who might otherwise had not have access to post-secondary education.”
He added that the graduation of 2,000 students and the award of more than 9,000 new scholarships is “exciting testimony” to the Government’s fulfilment of its commitment to making tertiary education more accessible:
“What we are witnessing today as we prepare to graduate 2,000 persons and to award a further 9,000 persons with new scholarships is exciting testimony to two things. One, testimony to the Government’s delivery of a commitment that we made… But in addition to that, the award of these new scholarships also represents at an individual and personal level, a triumph for those who would have undertaken and completed an academic programme.”
The batch of graduating students come from every region of Guyana and have completed programmes in various disciplines offered through international universities. The 2025 scholarships span from certificates to PhDs and are being provided through 22 accredited international partners, including the University of East London (UK, in partnership with UNICAF), Jain ‘deemed to be’ University in India, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES), Amity University, and the University of Suffolk (UK, also in partnership with UNICAF).
This year’s graduation ceremony is being held under the theme “Enhancing the Nation’s Human Capacity”, aligning with the Government’s broader development vision. It also marks the fifth anniversary of GOAL, which was launched to transform access to tertiary education for thousands of Guyanese.
Dr Singh further highlighted that from January 2025, access to education at the University of Guyana (UG) has been made free of cost. As outlined in the 2025 National Budget, more than 11,000 current and incoming students are expected to benefit from the move:
“This will relieve students of having to bear the cost of university education at UG, whether by way of cash or student loan. In 2025, reflecting the abolition of tuition fees, $13.4 billion is allocated to finance UG’s operations,” Dr Singh had stated during his Budget presentation.
In a related effort to ease the financial burden on students, the Government last year began implementing its student loan write-off programme. Dr Singh confirmed that $2.5 billion in loans had already been written off for over 3,700 persons, with the process ongoing:
“In keeping with our Manifesto commitments regarding making university education more accessible and affordable, we have begun Phase I of the debt write-off process for persons with outstanding University of Guyana (UG) student loans.”
Furthermore, as part of its education support agenda, President Irfaan Ali announced in April that the Government will fully fund the examination fees for at least eight subjects under the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) for each student — a policy set to benefit every child in both public and private schools.
This initiative complements existing programmes such as the annual cash grant to every school child, further cementing the PPP/C Government’s commitment to expanding educational opportunities across Guyana.
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