As consumers, when we go grocery shopping we demand great service and expect good quality products. Facebook posts at times name and shame purveyors of poor quality goods and services and laud professionalism and high standards.

So too in education, we expect our education providers to maintain high standards and offer courses and programmes of high quality. We expect that when we choose a college or university for ourselves or our children, we would not have to worry about whether or not the qualifications received would be recognized or accepted by employers or by the public in general.

That is why the issue of Accreditation is so important. It can be seen as a stamp of approval. When an institution is accredited by a recognized accreditation agency, it means that the institution has met internationally accepted standards and that students can be confident that they are receiving education of high quality. That institution is said to be “quality assured”.

The Antigua and Barbuda National Accreditation Board, established by an Act of Parliament, is mandated to, among many other things, ‘promote a quality assurance ethos and a programme of accreditation and registration in Antigua and Barbuda’.  As such, we at ABNAB continue to promote the view that even though Accreditation is not mandatory, our tertiary level institutions should seek to attain that status and so remove any doubt about the quality of the institution.

We want to bring information, provide opinions and create awareness on these issues. We hope that you will respond to us and let us have your opinion as well.