146 schools unregistered in TT

THERE are approximately 146 unregistered tertiary education institutions in TT. This was revealed to members of the Local Authorities, Service Commissions and Statutory Authorities Joint Select Committee during a public hearing at Tower D of the Port of Spain International Waterfront Centre on Friday.

In response to questions from Couva North MP Ramona Ramdial, Accreditation Council of TT (ACTT) executive director Eduardo Ali said 115 of those institutions did not fall under the ACTT's purview. But he explained that for entities to operate legally as tertiary education institutions in TT, they must be registered.

ACTT director (accreditation and quality enhancement) Curtis Floyd said the application fee to register was $1,000. Floyd added that evaluation fees could vary based on factors such as the number of sites a particular entity operates. Cost can be a deterrent to entities which want to register as tertiary education institutions.

Asked by Ramdial whether the fees could be made less prohibitive, Ali said the ACTT is already setting fees "at a very low level." But he explained that even against that background, institutions and programmes accredited by the ACTT were on par with their counterparts in other parts of the world.

Senate Vice-President Nigel De Freitas observed that many young people could find themselves frustrated if they do a course at a particular institution, only to find out the institution is not registered.

Ali explained that was why the ACTT kept a compendium of all registered tertiary education institutions on its website. He encouraged people wishing to pursue tertiary education to check to see if the institutions were registered. Under the law, it is mandatory for tertiary institutions to be registered to operate in TT but accreditation is voluntary. He explained the latter raised the quality of the programmes which an institution offered.

Floyd said the initial fine for an institution operating as an unregulated tertiary institution was $25,000. There is a daily fine of $5,000 for each day that an institution fails to register.

Ali also said a person who wanted to create a website and offer tertiary education programmes on that website, must register with the ACTT.

On whether ACTT partnered with tertiary institutions in Venezuela, Ali said it did. He disclosed that the ACTT's website could be translated into different languages including Spanish. Ali said Venezuelan migrants could pursue tertiary education programmes in TT which are comparable with programmes in Venezuela.

Committee chairman, Independent Senator Dr Varma Deyalsingh, was pleased to learn the option was available to Venezuelan migrants.

Comments

"146 schools unregistered in TT"

More in this section