President Dr. Irfaan Ali has unveiled plans to expand Guyana’s free tertiary education programme to citizens living abroad, allowing members of the Guyanese diaspora and their children to access online degree programmes through the University of Guyana (UG) at no cost.
The proposal was announced during a town hall meeting with members of the Guyanese diaspora in Saint Lucia, held on the sidelines of the 51st Regular Meeting of the CARICOM Heads of Government. Ali said the initiative is part of his administration’s broader strategy to strengthen ties with overseas Guyanese while ensuring they benefit from the country’s expanding educational opportunities.
- Advertisement -
“We want to be able to move to a position where our online platform at the University of Guyana can be available to our diaspora, wherever they are,” the president said, explaining that the long-term vision is for Guyanese abroad to receive the same tuition-free university education now available to students at home.
Ali noted that education remains a central pillar of Guyana’s national development agenda. He highlighted the government’s landmark decision to abolish tuition fees at the University of Guyana beginning in 2025, making higher education free for Guyanese students for the first time in decades. He also pointed to the continued expansion of the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL), which now partners with more than 40 international universities and institutions to provide scholarships and professional development opportunities.
The president further emphasized Guyana’s growing investment in higher education and research, noting that the country recently celebrated the graduation of more than 30 doctoral candidates through the GOAL programme. He said expanding free online university access to overseas Guyanese represents the next phase of ensuring that educational advancement is not limited by geography.
In addition to the education proposal, Ali announced plans to establish mobile government service centres in countries with large Guyanese populations abroad. The initiative would provide services such as passport renewals, biometric passport processing, National Insurance Scheme transactions, birth certificate services, and other government documentation without requiring citizens to travel back to Guyana.
The proposed online education initiative forms part of the government’s wider effort to deepen engagement with the Guyanese diaspora, which has played a significant role in the country’s development through investment, remittances, skills transfer, and community support. Officials believe providing free access to university education will strengthen those ties while creating greater opportunities for future generations of Guyanese living overseas.
