– highlights need for Govt. support“It is a pity that the current industrial impasse is being used to point fingers,” said Vice Chancellor of theUG Vice Chancellor, Professor OpadeyiUniversity of Guyana, Professor Jacob Opadeyi in a statement issued to the media.? The Vice Chancellor, who has had little to nothing to say to the media of recent on ongoing industrial action at the University of Guyana (UG), yesterday disseminated a lengthy statement in which he shared some of his convictions.Among these was his belief that “No one entity should be blamed for the current state of UG, but the national community as a whole, who have sat back and allowed this noble university to suffer from decades of neglect, abandonment, and political grandstanding”.The Vice Chancellor went on to share his firm belief that the problem at UG is not merely one of decades of underfunding and poor management, but chiefly, the lack of a national policy on how to fund the University.? And in the absence of this policy, he has concluded that “the funding regimes are haphazard and arbitrary”.“In the absence of such a national policy, accountability, transparency,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, and due diligence can hardly be demanded. Strategic plans, development goals, monitoring and evaluation and score cards will be foreign words to Council and Administration. I ask, when last was the management of UG called before the parliament to account for its revenue and expenditure? Who dares to ask UG to do such a thing when its income cannot meet its expenditure, when its budgets are unrealistic, when there is no financial discipline?” the Vice Chancellor asked.It is his hope that the national community will support the call for the development of a national policy on how to fund the university with the required accountability, rules and regulations. “This is the root cause of UG’s problem,” Professor Opadeyi insisted.He pointed out that the University today is in a “catch 22 position” characterized by a low level of tuition fees, low level of subvention grants, low level of private sector investment coupled with inadequate facilities and inadequate service delivery.In making his daunting point of the state of the local tertiary institution, the Vice Chancellor alluded to the Chinese adage, “cheap things no good, good things no cheap”.NEED FOR FUNDSReflecting on his entry to the tertiary institution over a year ago, the Nigeria-born Vice Chancellor said that it was a mere two weeks after taking up his appointment here that he realized the enormous task of transforming the University back to its days of glory.And those glory days, he intimated,Cheap NFL Jerseys, were the ones that saw UG producing global and regional scholars,Cheap NFL Jerseys, business leaders, entrepreneurs, engineers and teachers who have contributed not only to the development of Guyana but to the world at large.Moreover, he noted that the need for transformation is dictated by the inadequate state of the University’s infrastructure including drainage, sewerage, buildings, laboratories, furniture and other facilities.“This need is also dictated by the university’s over 30-year-old system of governance, policies, examination and admission regulations, added to the fact that its staff and student welfare services lack modern day requirements,” added the Vice Chancellor, who noted that “the level of funding and the management of the available funds leave much to be desired.”“We should commend the staff and students who endure this less than desirable state of affairs: the low level of staff remunerations and the unacceptable state of office facilities and teaching materials.”As such, he amplified that the injection of large sums of money into UG is without question imperative. This need, according to him, will go towards the upgrading of infrastructure and construction of new and modern facilities and money to improve salaries and benefits.“This new money should come with demands for improvement in quality of service and quality of products. This new money will encourage the recruitment and retention of more qualified and student-centered staff both within Guyana and further afield,” the Vice Chancellor posited.But according to him, “the Council and Administration, understanding of these challenges, have led us to initiate a number of actions that are bearing the desired result.”“These actions include: Special audits that identified the sources of financial mismanagement; Appointment of a new Bursar; Chief Accountant, and Accountants that are working to significantly improve our financial system; decision to purchase a new accounting and human resources management software to replace the over 20-year-old software currently being used.”“Also an increase of retirement age of our lecturers from 60 to 65 years to re