From 2021 to 2023, a total of 21, 442 persons benefitted from the Guyana Academy of Learning (GOAL) scholarship offered free of cost by the Government of Guyana.
And more than 50 percent of the beneficiaries are women, majority of whom are single parents.
This revelation was made by Minister of Public Service, Sonia Parag who said that with the figure, the government has surpass its target of distributing 20,000 online scholarships within five years in just two years.
“In 2023, we were able to reach a target of 21,442 ordinary Guyanese being able to benefit from the GOAL scholarship.
“So not only did we reach our target of 20,000 but we surpassed it two years before we promise that we will deliver it…So by the time we are at 2025, we would be way beyond 30,000 Guyanese who would have had the opportunity to earn a certificate,” Parag said on Friday.
She was at the time speaking at her ministry’s end-of-year-press conference.
According to Parag, the GOAL scholarship has done “tremendously” well as it continue to impact the lives of citizens from across the 10 administrative regions by not only allowing them to obtain a tertiary education certificate but also qualifying them for jobs so that they can earn an income.
“Education is something that this government has always placed as a priority…We wanted doors of opportunity to be open to everyone across the country whether you be in a rural, hinterland or urban area,” Parag said.
She added, “we came in here with a purpose of ensuring that opportunities were given equally to everyone across the ten administrative regions. That everyone would have access to education but more than that have access to earning an income after being able to achieve that education or that certificate.”
For 2023 alone, Parag said 2,221 males and 5,731 females benefitted from the GOAL scholarship.
“We went out on a robust outreach to ensure that we meet all corners, all cracks, across all rivers, communities, so that people can be aware. So that they can have the opportunity to access an online study…It was taught out very strategically,” she noted.
To date, a total of 3,431 persons have successfully graduated under the GOAL scholarship programme.
The GOAL scholarship was launched in 2021 with the aim of seeking to offer Guyanese an opportunity to advance their education through online and distance learning (ODL) mode.
