Education Minister expresses concern about fraudulent qualifications

 

The issue of fraudulent qualifications emanating from bogus institutions overseas was a matter raised by Education Minister Ronald Jones this week, as he spoke of the country’s push to go ahead with implementation of a National Qualifications Framework.
 
The NQF, which will ensure that courses of study leading to qualifications are delivered by recognised tertiary educational providers in Barbados and that the qualifications are well-designed and fit for their purpose.
 
“Generally, there are many positive initiatives happening in the quality assurance environment in Barbados. However, like other countries world-wide, Barbados is facing several challenges, including the influx of foreign-based qualifications, some of which may be from bogus institutions, given the increasing number of distance education offerings,” the Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation told key stakeholders gathered for the start of a two-day National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Implementation Workshop held at Almond Bay Caterers in Hastings, Christ Church yesterday.
 
“One only has to open the local newspapers to see advertisements from foreign institutions, offering programmes through various delivery modes or agents acting on the behalf of foreign educational providers” Minister Jones maintained.
 
Jones, however, admitted that “the prevalence of fraudulent qualifications is not only restricted to the Caribbean, but is noted to have reached disturbing proportions around the world”.
He nevertheless stressed that, “With the increasing number of fraudulent providers, the ease of regional and extra-regional travel which necessitates the need for mutual recognition and transferability of qualifications and the increasing access to tertiary education, there is need to maintain and enhance the quality of the tertiary education provision in Barbados, through 
quality assurance mechanisms such as a National Qualifications Framework.” (RSM)

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