Post-secondary, tertiary institutions must be registered – Nat’l Accreditation Council

Nov 30, 2016 News

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– students advised to verify schools are certified before signing up

The National Accreditation Council-Guyana (NAC-G) has embarked on an education and awareness campaign to further enlighten the public about its services, particularly as it relates to post-secondary and tertiary institutions.

According to information on the NAC-G website, registration of the aforementioned institutions is a mandatory quality assurance process.

“This means that schools must meet the criteria and standards necessary to offer their services. This process must be completed in order for any post-secondary and tertiary institutions (private and public) to operate legally in Guyana.”

The registration process determines whether an institution has the capacity to offer quality education to its students.

“Every institution must satisfy seven criteria, namely: Legal, Policy and Regulatory Requirements; Government and Administration; Quality Management System; Resource Management; Teaching-Learning Process; Review; and Continuous Improvement. Under each criteria, institutions are required to fulfill corresponding standards — 23 altogether.”

“Teams of External Evaluators, that is, persons who are experts in the particular programme areas, are used to evaluate an institution during the registration process.  In some countries, registration is known as pre-accreditation.”

The information further outlined that the NAC-G, as a quality assurance agency, is recognized regionally and internationally, and is affiliated with several agencies for quality assurance in higher education. The Council has acquired membership within the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) and the Caribbean Area Network for Quality Assurance in Tertiary Education (CANQATE).”

The NAC-G’s Registration and Accreditation standards are in keeping with international best practices and are similar to those implemented in Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and Jamaica.  The NAC-G also provides accreditation to the all medical schools in Guyana.

The NAC-G stipulates that “medical schools established in Guyana are required to seek accreditation with the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP) after being registered with the National Accreditation Council.”

As such, the council warns that students should ensure that they find out from an educational institution that they are interested to attend, whether or not they are registered with the National Accreditation Council before making any payments to the institutions and beginning their studies.

The body therefore released a list of institutions that have successfully met the requirements and have attained full registration status with the NAC-G.

The list includes: Art Williams and Harry Wendt Aeronautical Engineering School; Nations Incorporated New Guyana School Inc; American University of Peace Studies; Accountancy Training Centre; Texila American University; Greenheart Medical University; the Business School; University of the Southern Caribbean; Alexander American University; Government Technical Institute and Rajiv Gandhi University of Science and Technology.

The following institutions, the NAC-G outlined, attained Provisional Registration which allows them the time needed to set-up operations only – Al-Mustafa Islamic College and Ajeenkya DY Patil University at Turkeyen

Institutions with provisional registration are prohibited from enrolling students.  According to the website, institutions currently in the Process of Registration are the American International School of Medicine, JTW Management Institute and Georgetown American University.

The National Accreditation Council (NAC) was established by an Act of Parliament (the National Accreditation Council Act No. 12 of 2004), which mandated that all post-secondary and tertiary institutions operating in Guyana must be registered with the NAC. The NAC is governed by a Board of Directors that is set up by the Office of the President.

According to information obtained from the council, the NAC-G promotes quality of education and training in Guyana, the NAC advises post-secondary and tertiary level educational institutions (local or foreign) on registration, accreditation, and programme approval, and also provides recognition of awarding bodies,  and equivalency of foreign qualifications.

Persons who wish to obtain information about any of the services provided by the National Accreditation Council can access further details of each service on its website@ www.nac.gov.gy

 

 

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