THE National Accreditation Council (NAC) of Guyana on Monday began its two-day annual staff retreat at the Regency Hotel, where a review of its operations and its direction for this year will be among the pressing issues that will be discussed.

The retreat is being held under the theme, “Bridging the gaps of higher educational institution, operation in Guyana. A focus on quality, inclusivity and innovation in pursuit of regional and international standards”.

In his statement, Executive Director of NAC, Dr. Marcel Hutson reminded the staff of their role and the importance of institutions being registered with the Council.

“We have a number of institutions that are unregistered, and they are not accredited, but when we take into consideration the developmental trajectory that Guyana is on at this time, it is critical that our institutions operate at certain standards to meet the needs of a nation that is on its way to development,” he said

He told the staff that they all “have a fundamental and critical role in ensuring that the institutions function to the maximum in terms of output”.

Dr. Hutson used the opportunity to encourage everyone not to have a “one track” way of thinking “when you are locked into a particular mode”. He said that sometimes it is difficult to work with people like that, because they are willing to do things differently.

The Executive Director said: “If anything is going to be productive, if anything is going to be effective, you have to have thinkers. Life is dynamic; change is inevitable, and those who are really relevant are really not fearful of fear; they are not fearful of change or doing things differently.”

Meanwhile, during his remarks at the opening ceremony, the Council’s Chairman Mohindat Goolsarran explained that the retreat will focus on the major directions that the NAC will be pursuing this year.

According to him, the Council faced a number of challenges since the new board was established and they had an opportunity to seriously review the nature of their operations.

He also noted that during the retreat, they will address a number of pressing issues so that they can all be on one page and chart a way forward.

He also mentioned that, in relation to the standards, the board and council have had the opportunity of interrogating and collectively discussing the nature of the regulations.

According to Goolsarran, they will all be involved in implementing the regulations, and as such he is asking that they all have a common understanding of the various modes that are embodied in the regulations.

NAC officer Simone Gonsalves in her remarks stated that the NAC has objectives which they should all strive to achieve.

“We have three objectives: the first is to establish and sustain an integrated coherent tertiary education system that meets the critical needs for Guyana’s development; the second is to foster a good working relationship with stakeholders and the general public in adequately meeting their requests; and the third is to identify opportunities for process improvement and formulate quality improvement plans to meet the prescribing requirements.”

According to its website, the Council has been established by an Act of Parliament Act number 12 of 2004 The National Accreditation Act. This Council according to Act 12 of 2004 is the principal body in Guyana for conducting and advising on the accreditation and recognition of educational and training institutions, providers, programmes and awards, whether foreign or national and for the promotion of the quality and standards of education and training in Guyana.

It offers several quality assurance services to the Post-Secondary and Tertiary Level Institutions. These include registration of institutions within and outside of Guyana which offer courses in Guyana, accreditation of programmes, advice on the recognition of foreign institutions of education and training and their awards, and to determine equivalency of programmes and qualifications in accordance with the framework established for the Caribbean Community.

The Board of Directors comprises representatives of key education stakeholders.

Its office is located at Lot 109 Barima Avenue, Bel-Air Park, Georgetown.