As the journey towards education transformation continues, the ambition of the Ministry of Education is to provide continual training and workshops geared towards accreditation, to enable Barbados to become an educational hub.
Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training, Kay McConney, expressed this view in her address at an accreditation workshop hosted by her ministry, on Wednesday, at the Radisson Aquatica Resort.
“We have to put ourselves at a place where they [international organisations] say ‘we want Barbados’ and we have to put ourselves in a position when people call the name of education and Barbados at whatever level, they’re able to do so with the sense of confidence that once I align with Barbados at whichever institutional level, I know that I’m aligning with excellence. That is how we will continue to compete internationally. Barbados’ ambition is to become an education hub,” she remarked.
Ms. McConney expressed her support for the work that has started on the country’s journey to accreditation and commended Minister Sandra Husbands for her initiative in partnering with the Barbados Accreditation Council to drive the accreditation effort forward.
“We know that the Barbados Accreditation Council has been singing this song for a very long time, and finally, the rest of us are joining you in this chorus. And so we say to the Barbados Accreditation Council, thank you for the outstanding work you have done. Crying in the wilderness for so many years, understanding now that it has a fertile ground with us here at the Ministry of Education,” she stated.
According to the Minister, Barbados is on a trajectory of excellence and will continue to build on the excellence already known in education. However, she noted that the country still needs to go further.
“This accreditation process will not only serve the students who come through your institutions, it will serve the institution itself in terms of being a reputable international partner that is attractive to those international institutions who will be looking to partner internationally. It will also do good for the quality of your programmes,” Ms. McConney explained.
The Education Minister mentioned a four-year programme being offered by the Barbados Community College, in which a student completes two years of studies in Barbados and spends the remaining two years internationally at another institution, earning a joint degree/joint certification.
“Understand that people wish to partner with those who they believe are at a level of excellence and will be held in the same esteem internationally. You really and truly want to partner with equals, and so if our institutions remain unaccredited, and we do not go through the process of improving our quality, improving our programmes, improving our reputations; if we fail to do that, we will soon find that there are others with whom they are feeling that kinship of excellence, and we are left behind,” she maintained.
Ms. McConney told the participants that the work they do at their respective institutions every day does not include all that they will need to reach the standards and the requirements of the accreditation process.
She encouraged them to reflect on where they are now, appreciate where they need to go, and have a two-year plan for what they need to accomplish to finance their accreditation journey and include it in their yearly estimates.
She also noted that educational institutions need to have quality officers. While stating that these officers are built into the framework of some of the institutions, she believes that the time has come for such officers to be brought in as contracted employees to push the [accreditation] project. Once contracted, she explained, these persons will only focus on accreditation.
“This is a serious process. If you don’t move, Barbados does not move, so we are dependent on you the principals to be driving this, but we expect that you will also bring in the additional resources that you need, and we will see it reflected in your estimates, because this accreditation is part of the transformation into an educational hub for Barbados…” the Minister stressed.
She added that accreditation is a “business” and her ministry must ensure that education is established as a sector, where Barbados is exporting services internationally.
She pointed out that accreditation is not optional, and cautioned educational institutions that they must determine whether they want to be a part of the educational and training landscape in Barbados over the next ten years.
Noting that The University of the West Indies also had to go through the accreditation process to be included among the top educational institutions in the world, Ms. McConney expressed that the Education Ministry wanted every [local educational] institution to be at the top globally.
However, to accomplish that goal, they must go through a long process. “That very long process that the University of the West Indies and others have had to go through to get there, you too will need to go through that process. And it will be a process that sometimes will be frustrating. It will be a process that sometimes will be exciting. It is a process that sometimes you wonder what it is you’re doing here, and it will be a process that when it is done, you will say, this was worth the journey,” she said.