Second chance at Tertiary education for persons who did not complete secondary school

(Ministry of Education Press Release)

The Government of Guyana is offering a second chance to resident Guyanese who have not been able to complete their secondary education under a new initiative titled: Get Ready for Opportunities to Work (GROW). This scholarship programme is being offered to applicants at no cost and will be done under the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL).

This initiative aims to offer Guyanese, 18 years and over, who never had an opportunity to complete their secondary school education or obtained less than five passes in CSEC/GCE subjects (including Mathematics and English) the opportunity to matriculate to tertiary education.

Applicants can either apply for a Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) Levels 5 & 6 diploma or a General Education Development (GED) diploma.

The SCQF diploma is a comprehensive preparatory programme to be delivered within a three (3) to six (6) month period targeting applicants who have at least completed Grade nine of their secondary education or sat the CSEC examination but did not obtain pass in 4 subjects.

The students will study seven (7) courses: Communications, Business, Mathematics with Excel, Behavioural Management, Marketing, Introductory Economics, and International Relations.

The Diploma is internationally accredited and is offered by the Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) in partnership with Jain University, India. The SQA is the national awarding body in Scotland responsible for the development, accreditation and certification of qualifications.

SQA was established and constituted by the Education (Scotland) Act in 1996. Upon completing the programme, students will be able to enroll in Bachelor’s Degree programmes in Humanities; Commerce; Business and Management; Computer Science and Information Technology at Jain University or any other University accepting SCQF’s qualifications.

Meanwhile, the General Educational Development (GED) Diploma is offered through Texila American University (Guyana) and other partners. It is an intensive three (3) months programme targeting applicants who were unable to write or who did not attain passes in five (5) subjects at the CXC/CSEC level. The GED is equivalent to the United States of America High School Diploma.

Students who choose the GED Diploma will be exposed to four core areas: Mathematics, Social Studies, Science, and Language Arts. On successful completion of the GED programme, students will be able to matriculate to four (4) year Bachelor’s degree programmes at Texila University, Guyana or any other University that accepts GED qualifications.

All classes will be conducted online during evening hours to accommodate students who work during the daytime while examinations will also be conducted online at the end of the programme.

Interested persons can register on the GOAL website (www.goal.edu.gy) or using the GOAL portal: For the SCQF programme: https://govofguyana.smapply.io/.../scqf_registration_form... or For the GED programme: https://govofguyana.smapply.io/.../ged_registration_form... To apply, a copy of an applicant's CSEC results or Secondary School report card is required along with a copy of photo ID. They must also have access to a laptop, tablet computer and the internet.

These programmes fall under the Government of Guyana's 20,000 Online Scholarship Initiative.