SUNDAY 10 SEPTEMBER, 2017 – UWI TODAY
3
learning outcomes. It is used, for example, to assess vocational or
trade qualifications, academic achievement, professional status,
suitability for recruitment, and in performancemanagement.The
assessment itself can take the formof traditional tests, interviews,
whichmay include live demonstrations, and portfolio evaluation,
as is done inmany professional registration exercises. When used
to represent a formal qualification consequent to an acceptable
PLA performance, we use the term Prior Learning Assessment
and Recognition (PLAR) for which an appropriate certificate
may be awarded.
There are excellent local examples of PLAR locally. The
best I have seen is at the National Training Agency of Trinidad
and Tobago (NTA) where a meticulously detailed PLAR system
has been designed and applied to a range of vocational areas in
Trinidad and Tobago. The NTA awards Caribbean or National
Vocational Qualifications (CVQs or NVQs) based on this
assessment. Although traditionally heavily dependent on formal
academic qualifications, The UWI has, as stated above, always
included PLAR in its matriculation criteria but has only recently
actually adopted the PLAR nomenclature.
PLAR touches on an extremely important goal for our
national and regional education–the forging of a seamless
education system. By definition, such a system recognizes the
need for different levels of certification and recognition from
primary, through secondary, technical vocational, associate
degrees and diplomas and university degrees. However, it also
recognises the need to infuse a high degree of mobility by
creating mechanisms that would allow any citizen to move up
and across fromany level of certification to another. In a seamless
education system, someone who was not successful at the SEA
could eventually make it all the way to a PhDwith a lot less effort
than is currently required.
The discussion above is consistent with the new strategic
plan for The UWI, which includes a mandate to increase access
to the under-served and to contribute to the revitalizing of
Caribbean society and economy. A seamless education system,
or at least one that is more open than it is now, would optimize
the training and education of the critical mass of citizens required
for the revitalization process. The UWI intends to play its role
in the march to this revitalized ‘Caribbea’ and looks forward
to the understanding and support of all Caribbean citizens in
this regard.
PROFESSOR BRIAN COPELAND
Campus Principal
EDITORIAL TEAM
CAMPUS PRINCIPAL
Professor Brian Copeland
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
Dr Dawn-Marie De Four-Gill
EDITOR
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CONTACT US
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education experts are still musing over the best approaches to do
this. Over time, however, “output quality” has been assessed on
the basis of institutional reputation à la Oxford and Cambridge,
perceived or measured graduate success in the society and
through employers’ feedback.
In more recent times, formal accreditation and quality
control processes have been used for this purpose. Even more
recently, a best practice has emerged, whereby educational
institutions explicitly define the output standards that detail
the knowledge and competencies of their graduates in the
respective disciplines. This is then used as a basis for the design
and delivery of programmes, inclusive of entry qualifications, to
ensure that any candidate so qualified would have a good chance
of achieving the output standards upon successful completion
of the programme.
As an example, for a BSc Degree programme in Electrical
Engineering, the output standards are expected to establish the
level of learning to be achieved in, say, analysing and designing
electrical circuits, or generating software – thus addressing
competencies in the technical areas associated with this field. In
addition, accrediting agencies today insist that these standards
should also address life skills such as teamwork and awareness
of the impact of technology on the environment and society.
Let’s now look at prior learning and prior learning
assessment (PLA). As a society, we are inordinately attached to
academic certificates. For whatever reason, and I could suggest
a few, we believe that certification creates our identity. However,
this overdependence on certification as a major contributor to
identity misses the real point of learning and development. I
am sure that many could recount at least one situation where
someone with little or no academic qualification but loads
of experience has done exceedingly well in the workplace or
achieved high standing in society.
The most quoted example is that of the renowned inventor
Thomas Edison who was reportedly a poor student, described
by his school master as “addled,” and who ended up being
home-schooled by his mother, and grew to be a self-learner.
But even right here, steelpan tuners Dr. Anthony Williams and
Dr. Ellie Mannette, both recipients of UWI honorary degrees in
recognition of their tremendous contributions to the steelpan,
fell a bit short of their formal education but went on to contribute
to and innovate in an area that science is only now truly
beginning to understand. It is clear that classroom education,
at least in its current form, is not enough to create the kind of
citizen and, by extension, society, that we want.
Prior learning is a term used to represent the breadth and
depth of knowledge, competence and skills acquired outside the
classroom. PLA is the formal name applied to any process used
to evaluate the degree of prior learning, and how it matches up
against a set of agreed academic or occupational standards or
I thought I should use this issue
of
UWI TODAY to bring more clarity
to the matter of entry requirements
for programmes at the St. Augustine
Campus of The UWI. Some of
the comments I have observed
suggest that the underlying system
and process are not generally well
understood.
Part of the confusion arises from
the use of the word “matriculation.”
This is further compounded by the
fact that its definition varies from one university to another. At
Oxford University in England for example, matriculation is a
formal ceremony that heralds the student’s membership of the
University. Attendance is mandatory, so much so that students
cannot sit University exams unless they matriculate. In those US
universities where the term is referenced, matriculation refers
to the process used to help new students adjust to university life
and to plan their educational programme.
At The UWI, matriculation refers to a set of criteria that
establishes the lowest possible educational requirements for entry
into any programme offered by its Faculties. Applicants who
have been accepted to a programme of study at The UWI would
have exceeded the matriculation criteria and are therefore said
to have “matriculated” into The University of the West Indies.
Matriculation, as described above, should not to be
confused with the
matriculation ceremony
, which in true
Caribbean style is often abbreviated to just “matriculation.”This
is held every year atThe UWI and, unlike its Oxford counterpart,
is not mandatory.
The educational requirements for entry into a Faculty
programme can exceed thematriculation criteria outlined above,
as they often do. Indeed, regulations at The UWI stipulate that
Faculty entry requirements cannot fall short of the matriculation
criteria in any way.
As an example, the entry requirement into the Certificate of
Public Administration (CPA) programme has traditionally been
set at five CSEC passes, inclusive of English and Mathematics.
However, for close to 20 years, the
university-wide matriculation
criteria always allowed for three CSEC passes, plus relevant
experience for mature students. The criteria, codified in The
UWI matriculation regulations, also define a mature student as
an adult who is 21 years or older. In such cases, the University
conducts a variety of assessments to determine the level of
experience and verify the ability of the applicant to successfully
complete the relevant programme. These assessments may
include interviews, portfolio reviews and prior learning
assessments.
The upshot of all of this is that the UWI CPA Programme
that received a lot of a attention in the media a few weeks ago,
has not lowered its entry requirements, but has expanded
them by activating a long-standing mode of entry that was not
well-known, so much so that people either thought it was a
new criterion or, worse yet, one that reflected a lowering of the
standards. None of that is true.
The public discourse that followed the unauthorised
access to confidential Academic Board documents highlighted
two underlying shortcomings in the public perception of what
education entails.
The first shortcoming has to do with the public
understanding of academic standards and quality. The second,
andmost unsavoury, is what seemed tome to be a condescending
viewof the value of prior learning. Implicit in this condescension,
was what I saw as a reflection of the traditional stigma against
vocational (trade) qualifications and, perhaps even worse, a bit
of contempt against those who have not done well academically.
Given space limitations, these matters will be addressed at
another time.
The conversation in the public on the Faculty of Social
Sciences news report incorrectly focused on entry qualifications
as an indicator of academic programme quality. However,
while entry qualifications are indeed important they are not,
by themselves, a good measure of academic quality. In fact,
employers, governments and educators have long recognised
that programme quality is best measured by the quality of its
graduates.
Measurement of educational quality is quite challenging,
and despite the fact that education is almost as old as humanity,
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Our entry requirements have not changed
“As a society, we are inordinately attached to academic certificates. For whatever
reason, and I could suggest a few, we believe that certification creates our
identity. However, this overdependence on certification as a major contributor
to identity misses the real point of learning and development.”
