“It’s a sacrifice we have to make”

– Lindeners, Berbicians make daily trip to UG to pursue further education

By Svetlana Marshall

In pursuit of higher education, hundreds of students from across Guyana travel to the University of Guyana’s Turkeyen Campus on a daily basis, with Sundays being an exception. But among that group are scores who journey from as far as Berbice, Parika, and Linden to attend classes.

For approximately one-and-half-hour, 22-year-old Shanteal Alleyne travels from her hometown Linden, to the city in her pursuit of success. She is currently a second-year student at the Centre for Communication Studies at the University of Guyana, and as such, is mandated to attend 16 hours of classes, five days a week. Rejuvenated after a weekend at home with family and friends, Alleyne said she is often eager to attend UG on the first day of the academic week, but her enthusiasm comes crashing down, when after a long day at the university, there is no bus available to take her home at approximately 21: 30h. In some cases, there are a few buses available at the Georgetown/ Linden Bus Park, but the communication student noted that the majority of times they are empty and take approximately one hour before they leave for Linden.
Despite being drained, tired and sometimes frustrated, the 22-year-old repeats the cycle once again on Tuesday after enduring a three-hour history class. The remaining days are no different from the first two.
“This is a struggle I must endure,” she said. In total, she spends approximately Gy$ 17,500 a week, taking into consideration transportation, snacks and most importantly hand outs when necessary.
She mainly receives funding from her mother, who is a deputy headteacher at a nursery school in Linden.
Questioned why the decision has been taken to travel daily, Alleyne, who is an aspiring journalist, said since the commencement of the academic year 2012-2013, efforts have been made to rent an apartment, but to date her search has proven futile.
“It’s very expensive to travel daily, but I have been trying my utmost best to find an apartment that I can afford, but that has been very difficult, most of the apartments are very expensive while those that are reasonable are not vacant, so I am still searching.”

Juggling work and classes
Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) manager Rawl Friday’s ordeal of travelling from Linden to Georgetown and back is not far different from Alleyne’s situation. As a manager of GWI, Friday has to juggle work and classes four days a week, and according to him, there are days when he gets only a few hours of rest and then it is back to the ‘mill’ again.
“It’s a sacrifice I have to make. Because I am working in Linden, I can’t rent a house in Georgetown, that doesn’t make much sense, so my only option is to travel.” He spends approximately Gy$ 2500 a day, ($ 10, 000 a week) to commute.
“It’s tough, but I have learnt how to balance my life to accommodate work, UG and my social life. People often ask how it is that I manage to maintain such high grades, and all I say is that I have learnt to adjust to the situation.” His two daughters are also students at the university, but unlike him, they only travel home on weekends.
Both Friday and Alleyne are of the opinion that the government should move to establish a University of Guyana campus at Linden, Region 10.
“I think they should do a survey to see the growing numbers of Lindeners who attend the University of Guyana; many of them are teachers and others are adolescents who have just completed school,” Alleyne posited.

Tain
On the other hand, several Berbicians, despite having access to the Tain University of Guyana Campus, travel daily to attend the Turkeyen Campus.
Two such persons are Fonsie James and Whitney McFarlane. James, a communication studies student, told this publication that this is the second year he will be travelling to attend classes at Turkeyen Campus. He is required to attend 16 hours of classes, four days per week and though expensive and tiresome, the teenager said he travels by choice.
“I haven’t thought about renting an apartment in town, because I believe that I will be more grounded when I am at home in Hope Town with my parents and grandmother. They give me moral support and help me to stay in line.”
James spends approximately Gy$ 13,000 weekly to cover his expenses, and at times is forced to spend a night or two per week at a friend, because of lack of transportation, as on Mondays and Tuesdays, his history classes end at 21: 00h. Despite hectic days, James has managed to succeed in his courses, noting that “I didn’t quit last year, and I have no intention of quitting today, tomorrow nor next year, I will continue until I have my degree.”
McFarlane, also of Hope Town Village, West Coast Berbice, said this is her second year at the Turkeyen Campus pursing a degree in public management. “I was thinking about having a transfer to the Tain Campus, but Dad said I should stay at Turkeyen.”
Her expenditure is a bit less than James’ weekly expenditure, but besides being costly, McFarlane said studying can be a challenge after hours of travelling, but noted that she tries to capitalise on the four days of the week when she is not required to attend school.
In an invited comment, Region 10 Chairman Sharma Solomon said that the establishment of a University of Guyana campus in Linden would be a welcomed initiative. He said besides reducing the financial burden persons face on a daily basis, the establishment of a campus in Linden would create a range of opportunities for residents within the district.
However, he said while it may not be financially viable to construct and maintain a campus with all the faculties available at Turkeyen, some of the main programmes could be instituted to attend to the needs of the Region 10 population.
He highlighted geology, communication studies, public management, agriculture, social work, international relations, education and humanities and information technology, among others as necessary programmes for any Linden off-shoot of UG.