The President, Laurent LINGUET, accompanied by a delegation from the University of French Guiana (UG), was in West Guiana from Thursday 25 to Friday 26 May 2023 to lead a round table discussion on "The development of university education in West Guiana".
C' t was in collaboration with Mrs Sophie Charles, Mayor of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni and Mr Philippe Dulbecco, Rector of the Académie de Guyane and Chancellor of the Universities that Laurent Linguet, President of the UG, held his first round table on the deployment of the University of Guyana in Western Guyana. The event took place at Saint-Laurent town hall, with the participation of economic players (MEDEF, FR BTP, Réseau Entreprendre, etc.), academics, education (secondary school headmasters) and training (PP+, IRDTS, etc.), as well as local authorities (CTG, town halls, etc.) and other public bodies (DGCOPOP, sub-prefecture, etc.).
West Guiana, a region for the future. What are the projections?
Thierry Nicolas, who is in charge of the West Guiana region, gave an overview of the courses currently offered by the UG in Saint-Laurent. The current range of courses is mainly geared towards the teaching profession, with a DUSED and a 3PE mathematics bachelor's degree leading to an MEEF master's degree at INSPE. On the education authority side, BTS courses are also available in secondary schools.
In a region undergoing major construction and change, there is a growing need for skills. Numerous sectors such as social services, healthcare, education, construction and public works, culture, heritage and digital technology are all in high demand for skills. There is a growing demand for executive training. Many companies are forced to look outside the region due to a lack of local skills. To meet these needs, Frédéric Bondil, Vice-President of Training and University Life, has put forward a number of proposals aimed at extending the existing BTS courses in the west with professional degrees from the UG. These courses could be offered in hybrid mode. Proposals were also made to open up civil engineering courses at the UG. The discussion with the participants was very instructive and constructive.
It emerged that the west of French Guyana has specific geographical, cultural and economic characteristics that deserve to be highlighted (border town, historical heritage, vocation for cultural events, etc.) and which require a specific approach. The deployment of the UG is not intended to be a copy/paste of the existing Troubiran campus. Nor is there any question of doing less well than in Cayenne. The aim is to offer a quality service to potential students so that they have the same chances of finding a job as students on the Cayenne and Kourou campuses.
The announcement of a land reserve of several hectares to build a future campus at the entrance to Saint-Laurent was made, and the participants agreed that the potential inauguration of the future university campus should take place by 2030.
A local university
The delegation continued on Friday 26 May with meetings with Mrs Céline Régis, Mayor of Iracoubo and Mr Michel-Ange Jérémie, Mayor of Sinnamary. These meetings, which took place in a more intimate setting, provided an opportunity to discuss the issues and regional projects of these two municipalities and to offer the UG's services in training, research, engineering and project development.
Through these meetings, the University of French Guiana is affirming its role as a local university, in tune with its local community and keen to play its part in the social, economic and cultural development of French Guiana.
