National

BTVI Professors: “This Is Ludicrous And Ridiculous, Put Some Respect On Our Name”

NASSAU, THE BAHAMAS – Tertiary educators at Bahamas Technical Vocational Institute are fed up, alleging the institution is not recognizing hard-earned online degrees and certifications earned at international schools.

Published

4 hours ago

March 9, 2026

Joshua Williams

The union claims the school insists that all degrees must come from an institution approved by the National Accreditation and Equivalency Council of The Bahamas or NAECOB.

At press conference today, Union of Tertiary Educators Bahamas President, Daniel Thompson, says it doesn’t line up with their industrial agreement.

“This is ludicrous. This is unfair. It is unrealistic when NAECOB itself is a fledging organization with only 14 institutions recognized.” – Daniel Thompson

Despite this, UTEB claims NAECOB has no issue with those degrees.

The union providing copies of these memorandums sent by NAECOB to BTVI, showing two separate cases where they say degrees are valid and accredited, despite not being officially recognized.

Dr. Kerima Smith leads the business studies department at BTVI – she says the situation is beyond frustrating.

“In my case, I sought it to get a certification and Mr. Clarke’s case he saw it to get his certification OK we offer the HR program at BTVI that was written and developed by the business studies team that I need. I got the certification in HR they are now questioning, who told me to get my certification our industrial agreement get my certification.” – Dr. Kerima Smith

It’s a sacrifice she says many professors, many of them adjunct make.

“Listen to me these faculty team members that did not get a lighter load. They carried on with their full load. Some of them got additional took on additional classes just to pay for their school fee in order to be able to make the sacrifice so that they could become more advanced in their knowledge.” – Dr. Kerima Smith

“Please put some respect on TVECT. It is not happening here at other institutions.” – Dr. Kerima Smith