Georgetown: The University of Guyana (UG) on Friday launched the Jay and Sylvia Sobhraj Centre for Behavioural Research and Sciences with a grand opening ceremony at its Turkeyen Campus.
Guest of honour, Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, who is performing the duties of Head of State, officially commissioned the $100M building which will house several institutes and offices that are expected to have a great cumulative impact on Guyana.
The centre will facilitate existing courses currently being taught including Social, Clinical, General and Developmental Psychology and can house over 300 students.
Additionally, the centre, on which construction began in August 2018, will be used to deliver the newly launched Master of Science in Clinical Psychology which commences at the beginning of the new academic year, 2019/2020,
Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings noted her pleasure to share involvement in a “phenomenal piece of history that will benefit Guyanese… The Ministry of Public Health views mental health as one of its priority areas,” Minister Cummings said.
She also noted that the ministry’s commitment to behavioural sciences and its relation to mental health has ensured that for the first time in the history of our country, the Ministry of Public Health established a Mental Health Unit and as such, workers from these and other related fields will benefit from the new centre.
Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of Guyana, Dr. Ivelaw Griffith said this serves as a part of UG’s plans for rebuilding and rebranding of the university.
Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings, in her remarks, said it is heartening to see the partnership that has led to the birth of the centre. She said the ministry views mental health as one of its priority areas and for the first time in its history, the ministry had established a mental health unit in 2016.
Since then, she said much work has been done particularly in areas of capacity building, with training programmes for specific categories of staff within the ministry. The minister noted that while mental illness is multifaceted, it is treatable. “Ever since UG decided to launch its psychology programme, we at the ministry saw this initiative as a major asset in the drive towards addressing mental illness in Guyana,” the minister said.
Minister Cummings said there will now be a broader pool of human resources that the ministry can utilise in an effort to address mental health in a holistic manner. “Psychologists are essential when it comes to tackling mental illness, as they diagnose problems with state-of-the-art diagnostic tools. Physicians and other healthcare professionals turn to psychologists for their diagnostic capabilities and services,” she said.
She said that the launching of the Masters in Clinical Psychology is timely, especially in light of the many mental health issues that beset Guyana.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paloma Mohamed, said the thousands of people who worked to make the event a reality must be praised, and one of the many partners that are in the background is UNICEF.
She said UNICEF has been funding the development of the psychology programme at the university for more than four years. Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Michael Scott, said the programmes that are offered have passed through quality assurance that was certified by international partners.
He said the programme that will be offered will be one of a high quality which will be delivered to society. “We recognised the importance of the human condition and we have seen the manifestation in what these conditions can cause and I must say thanks to the Sobhraj Foundation for its foresight,” Scott said.
The newly-designed centre will accommodate a psychology department, lecture halls, a clinical psychology clinic, a student medical centre, students’ gym, a bookstore, students’ religious offices, and a food court.
You must be logged in to post a comment.