Education Officials Flock CANQATE Conference

Close to 150 education officials from across the Caribbean, the United States and Europe, are in the island for the inaugural conference of the Caribbean Area Network for Quality Assurance in Tertiary Education (CANQATE).
The two-day conference, which got underway yesterday (Nov. 3) at the Breezes Hotel in Runaway Bay, St. Ann, is being hosted by the University Council of Jamaica (UCJ) as part of activities to mark UCJ Week, from October 31- November 4.
Education, Youth and Culture Minister, Maxine Henry Wilson, in a message read by UCJ Chairman, Dr. Dennis Irvine, commended CANQATE on its efforts to develop a credible and effective regulatory network in the region, to ensure the highest quality of tertiary education to meet global challenges and requirements.
“This means the establishment of accreditation systems facilitating the seamless movement of students, establishment of equivalences to facilitate transferability, appropriate curriculum development, learning support, effective teaching and quality assurance,” she stated.
The Education Minister further observed that education was the catalyst for wholesome national development. “Apart from imparting knowledge, one of its imperatives is to improve the quality of the society beyond material achievements,” she stated.
CANQATE works with accreditation bodies throughout the region for the development of quality assurance as it relates to tertiary education.
It is an offshoot of the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE), which is based in Ireland, and serves hundreds of institutions across the world, through the collection and dissemination of information on present and developing theories and practices in the assessment, improvement and maintenance of quality in higher education.