Black Immigrant Daily News

See below for a statement from the University of Guyana on its new academic year:

The University of Guyana is set to commence the new academic year 2022/23 with orientation sessions for new and continuing students beginning from September 5 through to 10th, 2022.

Classes for most new and continuing students will begin on September 12th, 2022. It is to be noted that some classes for new students in some disciplines such as in the College of Medicine will begin two weeks later, since these students require their CXC, GCE and CAPE results in order to be admitted. The University was able to facilitate provisional admission for some disciplines ahead of their examination results being released by CXC.

Applications, registration and admission are still ongoing as the University prepares for yet another historic first in its 59-year history. The University for the first time will offer its students three attendance options. Depending on discipline classes will be offered in online, face-to-face or blended learning formats. Faculties and other academic departments continue to advise their respective students directly about options available to them.

However, UG’s new online timetabling system will also be made available to new and continuing students from September 2nd, at https://uog.edu.gy/ugtimetables.

VIRTUAL Orientations for New and Continuing students

This year UG will welcome over 3000 freshmen who will join 8000 continuing students, three thousand of whom are set to graduate later this year.  Virtual orientations for new and continuing students of the Turkeyen, Berbice Campuses and Institutes for Distance and Continuing Education (IDCE) will run for one week. URL for orientations will be available to students directly from their SRMS, the University’s Registry and their academic Departments from September 2. New and continuing students will receive emails directly with the necessary login information in order for them to register.

The orientation sessions are aimed at providing a step-by-step introduction to all of the systems, policies, personnel, and resources that students need to navigate the University. This will be particularly important for students to start their classes seamlessly on the first day of classes. Sessions also address programme-related queries and concerns and provide the necessary support and guidance to students to ensure their time at the University is smooth, enriching, and fulfilling as far as possible. During orientation, students are also introduced to the rules, regulations, lecturers, specific processes, given a tour of the physical and online classrooms, how to read and calculate their grade point average (GPA) and academic profiles. They are also made aware of the special services and opportunities available to them during and after their studies.

Students awaiting communication on their applications should check if they submitted their applications or their documents, or if they clicked to accept the offer.

Though many programmes are at capacity, students who have applied and not yet heard from the University or who wish to register for programmes which still have spaces are encouraged to apply or complete pending applications or registrations as registrations will be ongoing into early November for waitlisted students.

Traditional Opening Ceremony

The University of Guyana’s traditional Ceremonial Opening will also be held virtually on September 9, 2022, at 17:00h. Please click here to join the ceremonial opening:

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BBTAbS0IRQqu4vKioZnOxw

 New students’ orientation (Registry morning sessions)

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BBTAbS0IRQqu4vKioZnOxw

Continuing students’ orientation (Registry morning sessions)

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ict5k7ETQR6FoUvhlUyITg

 ADDITIONAL IMPORTANT INFORMATION

For details on key academic dates please click here: https://uog.edu.gy/newsletters/academic-calendars-20222023

For Assistance Please Call or WhatsApp These Help Desk Numbers:

For additional information and support please call UG’s New Help Desk Numbers: Turkeyen Campus Registration Support: 623-1941, 623-1867, 623-1869, 623- 1871, 623-1924, 623-1940, 623-1942, 624-1943, 623-1944, 623-1945, 623-1946, 623-1948, and Berbice Campus Registration Support: 623-1943, 623-1949.

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door Samuel Wens BOVEN-SURINAME — De verwarde man die overlast bezorgde in Bofokule en andere dorpen in Boven-Suriname is op

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A delegation of Cayman Islands Government representatives, led by the Premier and Minister for Sustainability & Climate Resiliency, Hon.G. Wayne Panton, JP, MP, recently travelled to the Bahamas to participate in the Caribbean Regional Heads of Government Meeting in Preparation for COP27.

Delegates met to discuss four thematic areas of importance to the Caribbean region: mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage, support, and cross-cutting issues such as transparency and reporting.

The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is seeking to have the regional meeting instituted as an annual fixture on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) calendar. This is in an effort to present a unified Caribbean position at international negotiations at the Conference of the Parties (COP27), taking place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt in November 2022.

Panton said the conference provided meaningful opportunities for relationship-building with regional counterparts and collaboration between the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) on a needs-oriented strategic approach.

“The impacts of climate change are a shared challenge globally, but even more so from a regional perspective. Meeting with the esteemed delegates of other Caribbean countries allowed us to identify our susceptibilities as Small-Island Developing States in our region, and develop a forum for creating unified solutions. After several meaningful discussions, we are able to move forward with the cautious optimism that collaborative climate action will accelerate,” said the Premier.

“The current global climate debate has largely been focused on mitigation – we now need to shift that focus to include adaptation, and integrate loss and damage compensation into our discussions on finance,” he added. In addition to regional Government convenings, the Cayman Islands delegates also met with the UNFCCC Secretariat and co-founder of Rebalance Earth Dr. Ralph Chami, who visited the Cayman Islands in April 2021, and his Blue Green World Inc. and Beneath the Waves colleagues.

Also representing the Cayman Islands at the meeting were Deputy Chief Officer for the Cabinet Office Jason Webster and Senior Policy Advisor (Environment & Resiliency) in the Ministry of Sustainability & Climate Resiliency Lisa Hurlston-McKenzie.

Hurlston-McKenzie said the meetings provided greater clarity on important regional initiatives related to climate change response and resiliency. “A number of cross-cutting, regional issues and solutions were discussed over the course of the three-day convening.

It was generally recognised that the Caribbean region needs to urgently transform its economies to ones of resiliency, and collectively build capacity to overcome common barriers, including implementing data-backed programmes to affect meaningful adaptation and mitigation. Access to available climate finance for blue-green economic transformation and wider resiliency remains a challenge for the region, especially for the UKOTs,” she said.

The Government of the Bahamas is finalising a Chair’s Summary based on input from the delegations which will be made available shortly, detailing the discussions around the thematic areas, regional priorities for COP27, and solutions that emerged from the meeting.

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Junior Barrington Thomas. The Law Association has asked the police hat it says are bogus academic qualifications which Thomas submitted to be admitted to practise as a lawyer. –

The Law Association of TT (LATT) has filed a criminal complaint against Opposition activist and radio talk-show host Junior Barrington “Skippy” Thomas. It is calling on the police to investigate what it says are bogus academic qualifications which Thomas submitted to be admitted to practise as a lawyer.

The complaint, dated August 19, a copy of which has been obtained by Sunday Newsday, was delivered to acting Commissioner of Police McDonald Jacob and sets out a series of events between April 13 and May 19, detailing LATT’s attempts to verify a diploma Thomas submitted from a purported UK university.

On April 13, Thomas, 47, applied for a certificate of fitness from LATT, which is needed for admission to the roll of attorneys “duly qualified to practise law” in TT.

As part of that process, for people who obtain law degrees in the UK, LATT must get proof that the applicant has passed the legal practice course at an institution validated by the Law Society of England and Wales.

According to the complaint, Thomas submitted a postgraduate diploma in professional legal practice from Colston University dated June 16, 2016.

Questions were raised during the verification process and LATT sought a legal opinion on the matter.

Then, on May 13, LATT was notified by e-mail by an assistant registrar of the Supreme Court that Thomas was seeking to be admitted to practise law in TT via a petition to the High Court without a certificate of fitness, and the matter had been listed to be heard that same day before Justice Joseph Tam and Sharon Gibson.

LATT president Sophia Chote, SC, and Kavita Roop Boodoo, a legal officer of the association, attended that hearing and the matter was adjourned to allow the association to complete its investigation into Thomas’s qualifications.

During the investigatory process to verify the authenticity of the diploma from Colston University, the association made enquiries of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in the UK, which provides a listing of all institutions authorised to provide legal practice certificates.

According to the complaint, “The LATT caused an examination of its own records to determine if any previous applicant had submitted a legal practicing certificate issued by Colston University but found none. Further enquiries were then made to the Department of Education in the United Kingdom, the Office of Students and a degree verification website service “Prospect Hedd” but the LATT was still unable to verify that Colston University was a duly registered institution or that it was authorised to issue the legal practice certificate.”

According to the complaint, on May 19, the association contacted the president of the Law Society of England and Wales and received a response on May 27 from Richard Jones, the engagement manager (Wales) of the Law Society which supported its position.

LATT said the Colston University Twitter page @ColstonUniversity1 “appears on the face of it to be a made-up institution and photographs used on the Twitter page are stock photographs. The Twitter account refers to coronavirus information issued by the Welsh government while Colston University purports to be based in London.

Jones said in his opinion “having been a qualified document examiner with the UK Home Office, that the certificates that was provided by the LATT, (albeit a low resolution black and white scan) does appear to be a counterfeit.”

A google search for Colston University is directed to a Twitter account, opened in February 2021, with an image of two buildings and a coat of arms dated 1998. It states “Welcome to Colston University official Twitter profile. Follow to keep up-to-date with what’s new with us.”

Law Association of TT president Sophia Chote, SC, attended a hearing at the High Court on Junior Barrington Thomas’s petition to be admitted to practise in TT without a certificate of fitness. – FILE PHOTO/JEFF MAYERS

A Google search on the London address on the Twitter account – 182-184 High Street, London, – appears to be a service address and not a university campus. Colston University joined February 2021 with just 221 followers. The last tweet was dated April 13, 2021.

On its Facebook page, Colston University on May 7, 2021 says:

“Do you want to obtain University Degree from UK? By clicking on the url, a message says the domain “may be for sale.”

A post pinned to the link states Buy University Degree with an accompanying website buybritishdegree.com but after clicking the link a message states “This page doesn’t seem to exist.”

The social media site describes Colston University – https://colstonuniversity.co.uk – as “a world leader in modern distance learning edu.”

In a March 6, 2021 post, the university makes reference to spring semester unlike term as other UK universities use. There are no earlier posts than March 6, 2021.

Sunday Newsday learned that in light of the findings, LATT submitted an affidavit detailing its efforts to verify the authenticity of Thomas’s diploma in responseto the petition he filed seeking admission to practise in TT. The court subsequently dismissed the application, even though Thomas’s lawyer tried to withdraw the matter.

LATT, through its secretary Bijili Lalla, called on the acting CoP to investigate to determine whether any criminal charges arose and submitted all the supporting documents it had gathered during its own probe.

Contacted for comment via his mobile phone on August 25, Thomas said: “This is the first time I am hearing about those issues, and until I am properly advised on those issues, I have no deficit of lawyers, and we will respond appropriately and if anything is written that is not substantiated properly or is libellous of course the courthouse is there to deal with those issues.”

Asked if he had applied for a certificate of fitness, Thomas said he had already given his comments on the matter and repeated his previous comment. He said when he is informed about it officially, not by a journalist, he will treat with it at that time.

He later said the allegations were “baseless” and the questions posed to him “were laced with misinformation.”

Thomas said LATT was “inviting me back into the arena after taking a conscious decision to stay away and remain quiet.

“After I speak to the police, if they come to me, the police will be a very busy organisation concerning the Law Association.”

He claimed the association “never told me what the issues were. This is the first time I am hearing it from a reporter. He who alleges must prove and I am not worried the least about that.

“And the battle will only last until the last man is standing,”

Thomas said he had filed a complaint on June 8, as a civic-minded citizen and not on behalf of the UNC or its political leader, seeking an investigation into Attorney General Reginald Armour, SC, over his role in a US multi-million-dollar civil-forfeiture lawsuit against people charged in the Piarco Airport corruption case.

In May, a US judge in a Miami court disqualified Armour and the US law firm hired to represent TT in the case because of Armour’s previous role as a defence lawyer for former government minister Brian Kuei Tung, one of those accused in the Miami case.

Jacob on August 26 said he had received the complaint from LATT and that it had been forwarded to acting deputy commissioner Wendell Williams for action.

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