By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunmedia.net

THE Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) is now internationally accredited by the Commission of the Council on Occupational Education (COE), opening doors for students to further their education at nearly 500 institutions in the network.

President of BTVI, Dr Linda Davis, said the institution is the first and only fully COE-accredited school in The Bahamas, describing the achievement as monumental for the country. 

She said BTVI’s sites on New Providence, Grand Bahama, Eleuthera, Exuma, North Andros, Abaco, and Moore’s Island are now globally recognised for their work in technical and vocational education.

At a press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister on Friday, Dr Davis said students who want to further their education abroad can automatically have their credits accepted to nearly 500 institutions registered within that network.

She clarified that students have been able to transfer their credits in the past; however, the COE accreditation will now boost students' prospects.

Dr Davis said the accreditation process was “no walk in the park”.

In June, a 14-member team from COE visited The Bahamas to do an extensive evaluation of BTVI’s seven sites. BTVI was measured by COE’s over 100 criteria across 10 core standards. During that time interviews were done with faculty and staff, while data was rigorously scrutinised for academic standards, institutional quality, and student outcomes.

Dr Davis revealed that the COE review highlighted 16 findings of noncompliance but BTVI eventually met those standards. She said that the institution initially missed out on two core standards related to educational programme and programme outcomes.

Officials reevaluated the way BTVI named its courses, number of its credits, and tracking clock hours. Dr Davis said they also had to make sure they had occupational advisory committees that asked faculty about BTVI’s graduation requirements, student’s progress, and dissecting the potential future for graduates in the industry market.

On Friday, Dr Davis acknowledged maintaining the accreditation will be hard work. BTVI will now have to submit an annual report to show it is meeting the standards of COE while also providing evidence of its efforts for the next four years. At the end of the fourth year, the COE will decide to reaffirm the accreditation or not.

“We need to give them evidence that we have 70 percent of our students completing and being placed in industry in areas for which they have studied. We need to give data,” Dr Davis said.

For her part, Minister of Education Glenys Hanna-Martin underscored the importance of institutions to learn trades to diversify the economy, adding it is a crucial factor for sustainable employment. She described the accreditation as a powerful validation to students, parents, and industry partners.

The COE was selected as the international accrediting body due to its global recognition in the career and technical education sector and being endorsed by The Bahamas’ National Accreditation and Equivalency Council (NAECOB), according to officials. BTVI is also seeking national accreditation from NAECOB.