Institutions that offer post-secondary or tertiary education without being registered with the National Accreditation Council will be liable on summary conviction to a fine of as much as $200,000 as a result of the National Accreditation Council (Amendment) Bill 2019 being passed on Wednesday.
Minister of Education Nicolette Henry piloted the bill in the House and said that it builds on existing legislation and will affect the reality of contemporary education in the country. The main purpose of the bill, she said, is to improve the effectiveness of the council as well as its enforcement. The bill, which amends the 2004 Act, intends to improve the effective administration and enforcement of the Act through the amendment of definitions of terms such as “qualifications”, “recognize” and “register.”
It also seeks to insert a new Part IIIA, which provides for various matters related to institutions and providers. According to the explanatory memorandum, “It seeks to provide for the registration of institutions and providers and makes it an offence for an institution to provide post-secondary or tertiary education without holding a valid certificate of registration issued by the council.”
Any institution which commits this offence is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not more than $200,000 while non-prosecutable breaches are punishable by an administrative fine not exceeding $200,000 or the suspension or revocation of a relevant certificate.
Additionally, institutions shall not use words such as “university”, “college”, “tertiary college”, “polytechnic”, “community college”, “technical college”, “technical institute” or “technical university” in its name unless authorised by the council, an internationally recognised body or any other law.
The bill also provides for the council to maintain a register of institutions or providers registered or accredited in Guyana and their accredited courses, programmes and awards.
The amendments further provide for restrictions and prohibitions in respect of institutions and providers, for decisions to be made in keeping with principles of Natural Justice and provides transparent procedures for the imposition of administrative fines and penalties in respect of non-prosecutable breaches.
It also provides transparent procedures for the amendment, revocation or annulment of decisions of the Council, establishes an appeals committee and provides the procedure for the appeal of any decision of the council by aggrieved institutions or providers.
At Wednesday’s sitting, which was absent the opposition PPP/C parliamentarians, the National Accreditation Council Act 2004 (Validation) Bill, was also passed. The bill seeks to validate the commencement of and all acts and things done under the National Accreditation Council Act of 2004.
