Barbados Accreditation Council Approves National Qualifications Framework: Standardising Higher Education for Skills Recognition

Ministers have given their seal of approval to the landmark National Qualifications Framework (NQF), a standardised and accessible system of higher education that recognises people’s skills and achievements, irrespective of how or where they were acquired.

The long-awaited approval marks the culmination of years of collaboration between educators, policymakers, and key interest groups, led by the Barbados Accreditation Council (BAC).

Speaking at the BAC’s 20th anniversary panel discussion at the Courtney Blackman Grande Salle, Executive Director Lisa Gale reflected on the extensive work that preceded this decision. “Many of you know we’ve sat in rooms and we were hoping for this to happen for a long time,” she said, acknowledging the contributions of her predecessors. “I’m sure they did quite a bit of work over the years working with consultants and seeking to build out what the framework will look like.”

The NQF, a key component of the broader Barbados Qualifications and Credit Framework (BQCF), seeks to standardise post-secondary education and training across institutions. Its goal is to ensure quality across all programmes and institutions in the country’s higher education system.

Gale said: “We are an autonomous body seeking to ensure that there is quality across the higher education space—quality offerings, quality programmes, and quality institutions.”

The journey to Cabinet approval was not without its challenges. The framework underwent several reviews and revisions before reaching its final form.

“We went to the Ministry of Education and presented it. We were sent back with some questions, all of which we answered,” Gale said.

The COVID-19 pandemic also played a role in shaping the framework, as the education sector was forced to rethink traditional approaches. Gale noted that the crisis revealed gaps in the system, particularly in how learning outcomes were measured.

Another significant aspect of the NQF is its focus on recognising individuals with substantial work experience but no formal certification. Gale highlighted the framework’s inclusivity, pointing out that it would address the needs of both those uninterested in formal qualifications and those with years of work experience.

“We can, through prior learning and assessment, give them a footing to start with some certification,” she said.

Inclusivity extends to disabled learners, a priority identified by stakeholders during the framework’s development. Gale confirmed that this aspect is now an integral part of the framework. “We had one of our stakeholders who recognised that disabled persons also need to be taken into consideration when we’re looking at certification.”

The NQF also places a renewed emphasis on lifelong learning, which Gale described as an essential element of the new system. “We recognised that lifelong learning had a little bit more meaning—not that it wasn’t contemplated before, but we thought that the one access level was insufficient,” she said.

(RG)