Jamaicans Urged to Embrace Micro-Credentials

Jamaicans are being encouraged to take advantage of micro-credentials to upgrade and acquire new knowledge and skills for the workplace.

Making the call, Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Fayval Williams, said micro-credentials offer a convenient and effective means for people to retool and upskill without having to take time off from work to obtain advanced degrees.

She noted that this is particularly valuable for the business sector, as it enables workers to remain engaged while improving their qualifications.

The Education Minister was addressing the virtual launch of the University Council of Jamaica (UCJ) Standards and Guidelines for Micro-Credentials on November 24.

Micro-credentials are mini qualifications that demonstrate skills, knowledge, and/or experience in a specific subject area or capability.

These credentials support the professional and personal development of the learner and may also be combined into larger qualifications.

The Standards and Guidelines, which will be piloted during the 2024/2025 academic year, represent a major step forward for Jamaica in advancing lifelong learning and increasing flexible learning pathways.

Mrs. Williams expressed delight that Jamaica has taken steps to align itself with the global higher-education community in developing and promoting the use of micro-credentials.

“They are increasingly becoming the preferred choice for certification in the workplace and are being used as a flexible way of recognising and valuing learning obtained formally and informally,” she noted.

The Minister urged the UCJ to spread the word about micro-credentials.

“I want you to blanket Jamaica with this knowledge about micro-credentials… . I want our business sector to know about it and I’m sure they will be happy to use it because they want their workforce to have higher levels of certification,” she said.

The Minister further commended the Council for taking the lead in recognising the importance of micro-credentials in the higher education sector, noting that the move aligns with the recommendations in the 2021 Jamaica Education Transformation Commission Report.

“I am going to have a ceremony to put my checkmark beside this one as being completed in terms of the work that the UCJ has done. As you know, coming out of that report, there are 365 recommendations, and we are down the road with almost 100 of them,” she noted.

For her part, Executive Director of the UCJ, Althea Heron, said the standards were developed by a Standards Committee comprising local and international representatives from academia, relevant private-sector stakeholders, and subject specialists.

“The standards have been developed to provide higher-education institutions, training organisations and other training providers with the minimum conditions required… for designing, developing, delivering and assessing micro-credentials in Jamaica,” she explained.

Ms. Heron noted that the standards are aligned to the Tertiary Qualifications Framework and the National Qualifications Framework to facilitate and guide the development of learning outcomes at the different qualification levels.

The standards document is now available to registered and accredited institutions for free via UCJ’s website at https://www.ucj.org.jm.