Principal of the University of the West Indies' (UWI) St Augustine Campus, Professor Clement Sankat, says he is not sure when students' grades would be released but he hopes the university and the lecturers would end their impasse soon.He was speaking yesterday with the media after the official naming ceremony of the Noor Hassanali auditorium on the campus in honour of the former president.
When asked if the students would receive their grades in three weeks as reported, Sankat said: "I do not have any clue (when the grades would be released) but I hope not. As I said right now the university administration is meeting with WIGUT (West Indies Group of University Teachers).
"I am hopeful that a resolution is close. It would take good sense from all, understanding the circumstances and doing the right thing and we will have it sorted out. Once it is sorted out my colleagues will have it sorted out."We still have one or two registration issues. Those will be there for a while. I was told yesterday (Monday) went pretty well. Students were in the classes which was most important to me. That is what students should really be about," he said.
Sankat sympathised with the students and their frustration with not having their grades. However, he emphasised that students should attend their classes and visit their faculties so that they would be updated on their grades situation.
"The first day of classes they need to be in their faculties. They need to be in their departments to know what is going on... some of the registration issues and how to deal with them. They need to get into their classes. Time flies in here and in November you know what it is in here, exams," he said.
Regarding the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE) applications students need, Sankat said GATE was an external issue from UWI and once the problems with the grades were settled, then the university would handle the GATE applications.
"We have to settle into here first. Once we have it sorted out, our first thing is to get our students into the classrooms, get them registered, hopefully get their grades published quickly, get our staff paid and then we get back to normalcy and have those issues tackled," he said.Sankat reassured that once the grades issue was resolved then the university would make the necessary provisions for students who may have registration issues.
Sankat said if necessary UWI would extend the registration period for students who had registration problems at no cost to them.