Mandeville, Manchester -The St Mary's University of Minnesota (SMUMN) in the United States has announced that it will offer its Masters in Education (MEd) programme at the teacher-training Catholic College of Mandeville (CCM) beginning this July.

A launch ceremony for the new programme, which will have to await certification from Jamaican authorities, took place at the Bird of Paradise Restaurant in Mandeville recently. Faculty members of both the SMUMN and the CCM expressed their delight regarding the cooperative project.

Tracy Lehnertz (left) Una O'Connor(centre) and Sandra Hamilton (right) listen attentively to a presentation recently during the launch of the The St Mary's University of Minnesota (SMUMN) Masters in Education (MEd) programme at Bird of Paradise Restaurant in Mandeville. (Photo: Gregory Bennett)

"I am so happy about our partnership and I must say that our association with St Mary's (University of Minnesota) has convinced me that we share the same mission, philosophy and aim to serve people in a spirit of excellence and in a spiritual, ethical environment." said CCM President Sister Una O'Connor.

The CCM currently has accredited education programmes at both the Diploma and Baccalaureate levels, but it will have at least a two-year wait before securing accreditation for its new MEd from the University Council of Jamaica (UCJ).

Officials at the function explained that although the programme is accredited in the US, the UCJ requires a two-year trial not only to ensure that it meets local quality standards but also to see its first batch of students graduate. The UCJ will then reassess the programme with a view to accreditation.

"Even though the programme is coming from an accredited programme in the US the principle is once it moves to Jamaica there are certain parameters that change and so, the UCJ is then responsible to ensure that the quality and standards necessary are in that programme," explained Grace Gordon - chief accreditation officer, UCJ.

"So unless the UCJ accredits a programme, the Ministry of Education does not recognise it," She added.

In explaining the development of the partnership between the two Catholic schools, O'Connor told the launch that planning for the two-year MEd programme to be implemented at the CCM, began in 2005 after the institution's Bachelors in Education programme had received accreditation.

"Following discussions among the board of governors at CCM and the administration, it was decided that we look further to the Masters of Education programme and this was done because there would be a dire need in Jamaica with the demands that were being put on the development of the education system," O'Connor said. "Serious negotiations then commenced for implementing the MEd and St Mary's made it clear that they were willing to offer their MEd programme here," she added.
Sandra Hamilton, MEd programme Coordinator for the CCM and SMUMN, alluded to the small percentage of Jamaicans who receive tertiary education, a norm which she says the new programme will change.

Referring to figures, which she said, showed that only five per cent of qualified Jamaicans actually get the chance to go on to tertiary education, Hamilton said the MEd programme "offers us a chance for the practicing teacher who has a family and other responsibilities and is unable to travel to the university in Kingston to practice right here".

Following the launch, Tracy Lehnertz, Director for the MEd in Teaching and Learning at SMUMN, told Career & Education that the programme has received the 'initial approval' from the UCJ and also explained the cost structure for the MEd course.

"We have the initial approval from UCJ and the process is that you seek accreditation after your first group of students have graduated and Grace Gordon assured me that the students who leave, once we receive accreditation they will also receive approved qualifications," Lehnertz explained.

"Tuition is US$200 per credit and most semesters, students will take six credits so the cost will be US$1200 per semester." She added. The current population of the St Mary's University of Minnesota, which has an off-shore campus in Nairobi, Kenya, is 7000 students versus CCM's population of only 600.

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