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Althea Heron
Executive Director
T
HE UNIVERSITY Council of
Jamaica (UCJ) is the
National External Quality
Assurance Agency for higher
education in Jamaica. One of
the UCJ’s key functions is to
assure the quality of foreign
credentials.
The recognition of
qualifications is an important
element in the cross-border
consumption of higher
education. As international
trade in higher education
services increase the demand
for recognised foreign
qualifications becomes
paramount. The UCJ is the
single competent authority in
Jamaica for the recognition of
foreign qualifications. For over
30 years, the agency has
provided credential
assessment services for
persons with foreign
qualifications. The agency
assesses any formal
educational credential from
high school to university level,
in order to determine whether
such qualifications satisfy the
requirements for further
study and/or employment,
and for some individuals
seeking to practise in a
regulated profession in
Jamaica.
Although it is generally
accepted that international
mobility has the potential for
capacity building and
strengthening economic
development, many
governments want to protect
their systems from fraudulent
or substandard qualifications
and certifications by ensuring
that qualifications earned
outside their borders meet
local and international
standards. A rigorous national
credential assessment system
is considered important so as
not to compromise the quality
and damage the reputation of
a country’s higher education
system.
The factors behind concerns
about qualifications earned
abroad include: the varying
quality of education and
training across countries; the
increasing access to higher
education with implied
implications for quality; the
perceived less rigorous
admission criteria for some
programmes; the growth of
private higher education
providers; and the growth of
online learning. There may
also be concerns about the
level of quality assurance
culture in the countries in
which these foreign
qualifications are awarded.
And yet, we cannot ignore
the need for students and
professionals educated abroad
to know that they can benefit
from their qualifications for
employment opportunities or
further studies in another
country. For Jamaicans who
choose to pursue programmes
abroad, the return on their
investment is having their
foreign qualification recognised
in order to land a job, secure a
promotion, or pursue further
studies.
For foreign nationals coming
to Jamaica, recognition of
qualifications represents
empowerment and respect for
their educational
achievements. As pointed out
by Sjur Bergan, head of the
Education Department at the
Council of Europe, the
recognition of foreign
qualifications is “a moral duty”.
CREDENTIAL ASSESSMENT
Over the years, The UCJ in
undertaking the recognition
of foreign qualifications has
observed the recognition
principles outlined by UNESCO.
UNESCO has established a
number of regional
conventions (for Latin America
and the Caribbean, the
Mediterranean, the Arab
States, Europe, Africa, and the
Asia-Pacific regions) on the
recognition of qualifications in
higher education. In addition,
UNESCO has prepared a
preliminary report on a Global
Convention on the
Recognition of Higher
Education Qualifications.
UNESCO describes the
recognition of qualifications as
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THE UNIVERSITY COUNCIL OF JAMAICA FEATURE | MONDAY, MARCH 5, 2018
Recognising foreign qualifications in Jamaica
Althea Heron