Belize Government Activates National Accreditation Council Amidst Online Study Surge

Online studies have now become a norm for Belize, and many other countries around the world.  With social media, opportunities to study online or abroad are flooding the timelines each day, offering cheap and sometimes expedited university degrees.  It is this, coupled with other factors that has caused the government to push for the activation of the National Accreditation Council.  The council was established some 18 years ago, but has since failed to carry out its mandate.  Minister of Education, Francis Fonseca, rose in the House Meeting today to introduce the amendment to the Accreditation Bill that will allow for employers and students to recognize certain institutions as being legitimate.

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education: “The purpose of that act which is in law is to ensure that the quality of education delivered and brought to Belize meets standards and allows for the assessment of qualifications for equivalency in order to facilitate the free movement of people with relevant skills and knowledge across the region. Since the COVID pandemic and the many changes that we have seen in our education community, you know there has been a lot of an increased access to online education and we recognize at the Ministry of Education that it is indeed urgent and timely for us to establish clear standards to determine the quality of education. Increased numbers of virtual and online education providers are now promoting education at all levels, as well as degrees at a cheaper cost to be completed within a shorter time frame. So naturally many of our Belizean professionals or public officers are going to these entities and pursuing their education through these entities which are easily accessible. The objective of course is to lead to upward mobility and higher remuneration. And this reality has triggered the proliferation of the degree mills and unfortunately questionable qualifications in people across our country. So to address this urgent need and to meet the targets of the Belize Education Sector Plan to promote and sustain human resource development and socio-economic growth the National Accreditation Council of Belize Act must be amended before it can be implemented.”

Interestingly, back in January 2020, Belize had passed a resolution in the Senate that established the CARICOM Accreditation Agency for Education and Training.  Former Senator, Osmany Salas had registered concerns with this resolution, primarily, the fact that Belize was one of two CARICOM member states that had not yet established its own accreditation council./