EXECUTIVE director of the University Council of Jamaica (UCJ), Dr Ethley London, has said the council plays an integral role in the free movement of people throughout the Caribbean, by facilitating access to the CARICOM skills certificate.

London said the Council had been named in the Caribbean Community Free Movement of Skilled Persons Act (1997) as a point of reference for verifying or certifying qualifications gained in institutions other than the University of the West Indies, the University of Guyana, and the University of Suriname.

“This means that persons, who did not attend these three institutions and are desirous of obtaining a CARICOM skills certificate, will have to have their qualifications certified by the UCJ as satisfying the conditions for recognition of a CARICOM skills certificate,” she told a public forum last Tuesday at the University of Technology (UTech) in Kingston.

She noted that the increased awareness of the Act and the perceived opportunities presented by the CSME has caused a steady rise in requests to the UCJ for this service.

The UCJ has verified the qualifications of some 115 Caribbean nationals who have studied in Jamaica, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Russia, and the Philippines.