Minister calls for vigilance

THE MARRIAGE between education and technology must be accompanied by state vigilance.That was the suggestion yesterday of Minister of Education Ronald Jones as he delivered the weekly lunchtime lecture at the Democratic Labour Party’s George Street, St Michael headquarters.Bogus degreesSpeaking on the topic: Challenges To Formal Education In An Era Of Technology – Dilemma And Survival, Jones said technology had caused the burgeoning of bogus universities and degree mills. These, he noted, undermined the purity of academic study and the rigour of intellectual pursuit.“Quality assurance and standards must be the role of Government,” he said.Jones indicated there were businesses that wrote essays or theses for a fee, and the unscrupulous had no qualms in having those things done to parade their new qualifications.VerificationHe stressed that Government and businesses had to ensure that national accreditation authorities were able to verify the authenticity of courses of study and qualifications.“There must be rigour in this exercise of quality assurance if the very pursuit of technological usage is not to dumb down our country,” he said. (WG)