The Union of Tertiary Educators of The Bahamas (UTEB) voiced concerns about the recognition of faculty credentials at the Bahamas Technical & Vocational Institute (BTVI) at a press conference on Monday.
According to the union the online degrees obtained by faculty members are not being recognized by the National Accreditation & Equivalency Council of The Bahamas (NAECOB) unless a $2,000 accreditation and evaluation fee is paid. According to UTEB President, Daniel Thompson NAECOB is not listed or referenced in the union’s industrial agreement and questions why it is being used to determine faculty qualifications.
Thompson said, “seems as if the board itself have that insular attitude. They do what they want to do. They don’t effectively communicate and they are separated and insular to the faculty and staff at the institution.”
Also commenting was BTVI Head Of Business Studies, Kermia Smith who said that requirement places an unfair financial burden on faculty. She said, “us educators, we don’t just get up in the front and talk and talk and talk, we have to prepare. A lot of our work is preparation and evaluation. And after we finish doing preparation, evaluation and then delivery we have to go home and then we have to also be the student and we have to go and meet deadlines and mark papers and listen to me, these faculty members did not get a lighter load. They carried on with their full load. Some of them took on additional courses just to pay for their school fee in order to be able to make the sacrifice so that they can become more advanced in their knowledge.”
