FROM NOW ON it should be easier to transfer to an international college from The College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts (COSTAATT), The University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) and The University of the West Indies (UWI).

Making the announcement at a press conference yesterday at the ALGICO Plaza penthouse in Port-of-Spain, senator Fazal Karim, Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education called the development "historic", since the award of institutional accreditation to these schools is a first for the entire Caribbean.

The big three — there are actually 81 tertiary level providers across the country — together accomodate over 30,000 higher ed students.

Why should you care about this?

Accreditation benefits students in several ways: access to programs and scholarships is easier; transfer of students and credits between institutions regionally and internationally is easier; and students go through better quality programs.

More importantly, registration with the accreditation agency gives tertiary providers the right to apply GATE to their programs so your education is free and quality is guaranteeed.

The Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago, established by an Act of Pariliament in 2004, is the agency that assesses and regulates the quality of tertiary educational institutions and programs.

If institutions meet the required standards they are initially awarded accreditation for a maximum period of seven years and are subject to checks every three years.

According to Michael Bradshaw, executive director of the ACTT, a school is awarded institutional accreditation when its facilities, resources and quality management systems meet or surpass the minimum internationally accepted standards.

Institutions seeking to be accredited must offer approved, locally developed degree programs and must have graduated, from its programs, no less than one group of students.

Karim said government remained committed to achieving a 60 per cent participation rate in post secondary education.

"I assure you that we are treading a steady part toward building human capacity through fully accredited, internationally recognized higher education institutions," said Karim.

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