THE Caribbean Examinations Council’s (CXC) new associate degree programme, introduced this year, is already the focus of intense criticism by educators who say that the degrees are of little value because they have not been accredited. The quality of the degrees was also an issue, given that schools are not equipped with the requisite resources, and teachers were not adequately prepared.

“The children are excited about it and the principals are excited,” says Dr Dennis Minott, head of A-QuEST, an institution which coaches high school graduates for studies in some of the world’s top universities.

But, he added: “I see a little school out of Port Antonio with two classrooms which now has a billboard, big and bold, saying it offers associate degrees. High schools are not qualified to offer an associate degree,” Minott insists.

Equally critical, Ruel Reid, president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association and master teacher at Munroe College, says regional governments, by endorsing the associate degree, “have collectively used their powers to bypass an accreditation process that they demand from other people”.

“If these associate degrees were going to be sent to an accreditation body they would not pass, because one of the criteria is to have adequate resources to support delivery of the curriculum,” said Reid.

After getting approval from governments in the region, CXC launched the associate degree programme in March this year in nine subject areas: business studies, computer science, environmental science, general studies, humanities, mathematics, modern languages, natural sciences and technical studies.

Starting this year, students who obtain grades one to five passes in seven units of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), including the one-unit core subjects – Caribbean studies and communication studies – will automatically qualify for an associate degree, the Council says.

According to CXC, each CAPE unit is equal to 10 credits and requires 150 hours to complete.

The seven units therefore are equivalent to 70 credits, which is considered acceptable for associate degrees under the guidelines laid down by the Tertiary Level Institute Unit of the UWI and the Association of Caribbean Tertiary Institutions.

Levels of performance in the degree are tied to the Grade Point Average (GPA), a US grading system, with Grade One of the CAPE equal to a 4.0 GPA and Grade Five is equivalent to 2.0 GPA.

The objectives of the associate degree programme are to:

. indicate areas of focus to persons continuing education at the post-CSEC (Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate) level;

. provide skills and attitudes required to continue tertiary education;

. enable persons to obtain a degree through flexible arrangements; and

. provide “portable qualifications” to allow ease of access and transfer into university and college programmes across the region.

CXC registrar Dr Lucy Steward explained at the launch in Barbados on March 14, that the degrees “must not be seen as competing with any existing programmes but must be viewed as complementary in order to allow more persons to access tertiary-level education.”

Traditionally, an associate degree is equivalent to the first two years of a four-year bachelor’s degree programme, and is offered largely by community colleges, after they have been certified by the University Council of Jamaica.

Reid, however, argues that regional governments, by endorsing the associate degree, “have collectively used their powers to bypass an accreditation process that they demand from other people.”

“If these associate degrees were going to be sent to an accreditation body it would not pass, because one of the criteria is to have adequate resources to support delivery of the curriculum,” said Reid.

“A lot of institutions have to go through a whole heap of rigour to get their associate degrees accredited, so for CXC to introduce these, what is the basis for accreditation?” queried the JTA president

Minott had similar arguments, but went further to say that the CXC degree could actually deny students entry to universities abroad, especially in North America, and if they get in, could hurt their chances of obtaining financial aid.

“They are seen as transfer students and almost automatically are disbarred from financial aid,” said Minott.

Dr Minott thinks that rather than calling the qualification an ‘associate degree’, the certification should be renamed ‘Caribbean Baccalaureate’.

He suggests that it be designed after the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma that European high schools award their students who complete a rigorous IB programme in their final two years – some for the benefit of advanced placement in colleges.

The United Kingdom is also contemplating reforms to its Advanced Level programme.

A working group in 2003 proposed that the GCSE and Advanced Levels be absorbed into a new system of diplomas at four levels.

The restructuring is meant to reward the efforts of low performing students, by creating ‘a flexible ladder of progression’ for all students.

In the case of CXC’s associate degrees, it is reported that at least one high school is advising students to avoid the automatic associate degree certification by not pursuing or completing seven CAPE units.

Minott thinks the UWI should also think twice before accepting the degree as a matriculation requirement.

“It should not take credits from this associate degree to supplement its own credits as it would lower the quality of the UWI degree which is already under question because of the low number of credit hours,” said the education researcher.

It takes roughly 90 credit hours to earn a UWI bachelor’s degree, he said, compared to 128 credits or more in many of the world’s top universities.

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