Education Minister Dr. Robert Lewis.
PRESS RELEASE – The Minister for Education encourages offshore education institutions to seek approval from accreditation boards for their programs.
The Government of Saint Lucia is encouraging offshore educational institutions to accredit their programs.
Accreditation is the act of granting credit or recognition to a school of learning.
Minister for Education, Hon. Dr. Robert Lewis said accreditation is a voluntary practice focusing on quality assurance.
“Accreditation is a good thing because essentially, it ensures standards. [It shows that schools] are willing to put up our programs so that other people can validate that our programs meet certain benchmark requirements. So accreditation is a good thing.”
Minister Lewis said the Ministry of Education is concerned primarily with licensing.
“The Ministry of Education can never accredit any education institution. The Ministry of Education can only license institutions.
Accreditation will have to be peer reviewed. For example, the University of the West Indies, if it wants accreditation and there’s an accreditation board that accredits programs, it will seek accreditation. These agencies will come to the campus of the university and they are the ones to accredit these places.”
Licensing is a compulsory requirement involving the registration of institutions by the state.
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