Close to 5,000 people are qualified for the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) scholarship programme this year, out of the 6,000 who applied.
GOAL’s Director, Dr. Jacob Opadeyi told DPI Tuesday, that, “In the next two weeks, the scholarships will be announced.
Government has made it possible for Guyanese to undergo distance learning in 187 programmes, offered through 30 universities. Last year, the government awarded 6,000 GOAL scholarships to Guyanese.
A sum of $1.3 billion was approved for GOAL in Budget 2022.
Asked if GOAL will be offering additional oil and gas courses in the future, Dr. Opadeyi said the offer will be left to the market.
He said 3T EnerMech has sent a proposal to partner with GOAL to offer the first oil and gas course. Some 80 students are currently undergoing the training at the company’s headquarters, at Lusignan, East Coast Demerara.
“Right now, we have three companies who want to do oil and gas training and the scope is bigger. So, we are levying some proposals so I expect that before the end of this year there will be [more oil and gas] facilities in Guyana,” the director said.
He urged potential scholars to not procrastinate, but take the opportunity and apply for the GOAL programmes.
GOAL scholarships are geared at equipping citizens from across the country, with the knowledge and qualification for self and economic development.