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Teachers cry foul over unaccredited masters programme 
Wednesday, 24 March 2010 
A group of high school teachers in St. Elizabeth who have been awarded unaccredited masters degrees
from an offshore university is crying foul after they were told that they cannot access tuition refunds through a special government facility.
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }The teachers have turned up the heat on the International University of the Caribbean (IUC) after they found out the degree programme it administers is not accredited.
The teachers who hold senior positions at a prominent St. Elizabeth school
are hopping mad, that they will not get back half of the tuition fees they spent with the University of Sheffield through the University College of the Caribbean because the masters degrees they were awarded are not recognised by the local authorities.
They teachers who read for the Masters of Educational Studies over a two year period between 2006 and 2008 were advised two months ago that their applications
have been rejected.
The teachers spent close to five thousand British pounds in tuition fees over the course of their studies as well as $100,000 which was paid to IUC.
The teachers are insisting that they were not advised by the administrators of IUC that the Master's degree has not been acknowledged by the local accreditation body, the University Council of Jamaica (UCJ).
"We have been given the runaround and it's not fair to us because they should have known that the course was not accredited but we went in with the expectation that it was. They should let people know what they are getting into," said a disgruntled teacher.
An official at the Education Ministry's Teacher's Refund Secretariat confirmed to RJR News that the Masters Degree from the Sheffield University is not on its list of fully accredited academic programmes and its participants are therefore not eligible for the 50% refund.
The government offers teachers a refund of half of their tuition when they complete a degree programme.
It is still not known how many persons have been affected apart from the three teachers at the St. Elizabeth school.
Meanwhile, President of the IUC, Reverend Maitland Evans says there has been a delay in getting the Master's degree programme from the London-based University accredited.
The IUC president says that his institution should not be blamed for the delay, but noted that the University of Sheffield is working closely with the University Council of Jamaica to normalise the status of the academic programmes offered to local students.
He also insisted that all students reading for degrees with overseas based universities are informed about the accreditation status before the courses of studies begin.
Wednesday, 24 March 2010 A group of high school teachers in St. Elizabeth who have been awarded unaccredited masters degreesfrom an offshore university is crying foul after they were told that they cannot access tuition refunds through a special government facility.
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }The teachers have turned up the heat on the International University of the Caribbean (IUC) after they found out the degree programme it administers is not accredited.
The teachers who hold senior positions at a prominent St. Elizabeth school
are hopping mad, that they will not get back half of the tuition fees they spent with the University of Sheffield through the University College of the Caribbean because the masters degrees they were awarded are not recognised by the local authorities.
They teachers who read for the Masters of Educational Studies over a two year period between 2006 and 2008 were advised two months ago that their applications
have been rejected.
The teachers spent close to five thousand British pounds in tuition fees over the course of their studies as well as $100,000 which was paid to IUC.
The teachers are insisting that they were not advised by the administrators of IUC that the Master's degree has not been acknowledged by the local accreditation body, the University Council of Jamaica (UCJ).
"We have been given the runaround and it's not fair to us because they should have known that the course was not accredited but we went in with the expectation that it was. They should let people know what they are getting into," said a disgruntled teacher.
An official at the Education Ministry's Teacher's Refund Secretariat confirmed to RJR News that the Masters Degree from the Sheffield University is not on its list of fully accredited academic programmes and its participants are therefore not eligible for the 50% refund.
The government offers teachers a refund of half of their tuition when they complete a degree programme.
It is still not known how many persons have been affected apart from the three teachers at the St. Elizabeth school.
Meanwhile, President of the IUC, Reverend Maitland Evans says there has been a delay in getting the Master's degree programme from the London-based University accredited.
The IUC president says that his institution should not be blamed for the delay, but noted that the University of Sheffield is working closely with the University Council of Jamaica to normalise the status of the academic programmes offered to local students.
He also insisted that all students reading for degrees with overseas based universities are informed about the accreditation status before the courses of studies begin.
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