Montego Bay Community College Launches Mortuary Sciences Associate Degree Programme
By: July 23, 2015 ,The Key Point:
The Facts
- The programme is the result of a partnership between MBCC and Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Toronto, Canada, in collaboration with the Funeral Directors Association of Jamaica.
- The curriculum for the two-year course was conceptualized out of recognition of the need for a regulatory framework to govern the sector as well as the needs of funeral service providers.
The Full Story
Montego Bay Community College (MBCC) launched its Funeral Services and Mortuary Sciences Associate Degree programme on July 22, a first by an education institution in the Caribbean region.
Principal of the college, Dr. Angella Samuels Harris, said the programme is the result of a partnership between MBCC and Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Toronto, Canada, in collaboration with the Funeral Directors Association of Jamaica.
The curriculum for the two-year course was conceptualized out of recognition of the need for a regulatory framework to govern the sector as well as the needs of funeral service providers.
“This programme is only one more example of the innovation and responsiveness of the MBCC. This programme will prepare students for a career in the very lucrative, funeral industry. We hope that most of them will take their place as Funeral Directors,” she said.
“We are especially pleased that we have the endorsement of the Funeral Directors Association of Jamaica (and) we look forward to working with you to ensure that we train persons to operate at the highest level in your industry,” Dr Samuels Harris added.
She outlined several areas of collaboration, such as specialized funeral service programmes, facilitating the sharing of expertise and facilities, commitment to a standards-driven, competency-based approach to preparing and certifying individuals, and to the transfer of technology, systems and expertise.
The 14-module course includes: Introduction to Funeral Services; the Management, Principles, Pathology, Laws, Rules and Regulations of Funeral Services; Restorative Art; Principles of Embalming; Accounting; Mathematics; Communication; a Foreign Language as well as Anatomy and Physiology.
The course will be offered at the main campus in Montego Bay and a satellite campus in Savanna-la-mar.
In the meantime, Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Glendon Harris, in giving the course his blessing, made an appeal to corporate Jamaica, led by established players in the Funeral Services Industry, to sponsor students registered in the course.