Welcome to the Barbados Accreditation Council's general questions and answers section. As we do cover quite a bit of info in our FAQ's we've attempted to keep the questions as organized as possible. You may or may not find the answers to your questions. If you do not find an answer to your question, please visit the contact us page, fill in the form and submit your question. We do try to keep our FAQ's up to date, and your question may be the next FAQ we add to that list!
Recognition is the formal acknowledgement by a competent authority of the appropriateness of a foreign qualification to access education and/or employment in the receiving country. Generally, the recognition process requires that tertiary education and training institutions be recognized and accredited within the country of origin.
A determination by a competent authority that a particular programme or course has attained a comparable recognized standard. The purposes of determining equivalencies include facilitating (1) articulation arrangements between institutions and other issues related to the transfer of students to other educational institutions and (2) entry of graduates of the programmes into the workplace.
Accreditation is a process in which a programme of study or institution is assessed for its standard and given official recognition. At the programme level, accreditation is concerned with the quality of a specific course or programme of study, while institutional accreditation is concerned with the evaluation of an entire institution.The accreditation process is intended to strengthen and sustain the quality and integrity of educational provisions, making it worthy of public confidence.
A Diploma Mill sells qualifications with very little or no quality assurance. Diplomas issued by a Diploma Mill are granted without ensuring that the students are properly qualified.
This is accreditation with low educational standards and without recognition from government and other competent authorities. Accreditation mills give the public the impression that the institution has met the required standards.
For more information on fraudulent accrediting agencies, institutions and diploma mills. For further information see www.osac.state. or.usloda/unaccredited.html (Also see the Barbados Accreditation Council pamphlet on Websites that provide Information on Accredited and Non-accredited Institutions)
The best safeguard against fraudulent providers is to check with the Barbados Accreditation Council to ensure that the institution and programmes of study are either recognised or accredited by an authorised accreditation agency or body. You must make sure that a recognised accrediting body accredits the institution, which is the highest mark of accreditation quality. If the profession you are studying requires a licence for admission to practise, then you must also check the accreditation of the programme.