The National College for Educational Leadership (NCEL), an agency of the Ministry of Education and Youth (MoEY) has been awarded ISO 9001:2015 certification, a system of internationally recognised standards that enhance quality service delivery. The College’s ISO standardisation process, which began under the stewardship of the former Director/Principal, Dr. Taneisha Ingleton, is the result of an intense 15-months process involving a whole staff approach of team members who were engaged in several activities to promote the standardisation of all policies, processes and operations of the College. This success is also the result of team members being trained as internal auditors and who were provided with the requisite skills and knowledge to lead internal audits prior to the College’s participation in the ISO audit processes (Stages 1 and 2), and thereafter receiving certification.
Incumbent Director/Principal of the College (Acting), Mrs. Winnie Berry says the certification forms part of the College’s thrust to improve its overall performance and to provide a base for sustainable development initiatives. “ The College is charged with the responsibility to design, develop and implement leadership interventions and initiatives that are geared at promoting leadership excellence and sustained improvements in student and school performance,” she noted and added “This accreditation is a step in the right direction as it endorses the inculcation of systems and procedures that are aligned with the College’s vision of becoming an internationally recognised organisation that ensures the preparation and continued development of high-quality educational leaders.”
According to Mrs. Berry the implementation of the quality management system (QMS) is not only a response to quality service (as one of NCEL’s core values), but to ensure the College is on the cusp of exceptional product development and service delivery while meeting the needs of our stakeholders. “This certification will, among other things, serve to further strengthen the College’s thrust to optimise service and make quality a culture in the educational leadership landscape,” she said.
Director of Programmes and Chair of the ISO Steering Committee, Dr. Cheryl McLaughlin noted that the certification symbolises the College’s commitment to creating a culture of continuous improvement and accountability, as well as promoting relentless focus on excellence. She also advised that the team was intent on developing the relevant procedures that would ensure the effective standardisation of quality systems and policies. A total of 11 procedures for the QMS with their attendant guidelines and forms were strategically developed; the Procedure for the Quality Records, the Procedure for Addressing Risk and Opportunity and the Procedure for the Review of Customer Requirements, among others.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an independent, non-governmental and international organisation that connects technical experts who coalesced and agreed to create standards that encourage innovation while providing solutions to global challenges. Imperatively, the ISO 9001:2015 standards represent the essential principles of quality management which is customer-centric, quality focused and motivational; it is indicative of an approach to sustained exceptional service delivery using the process approach to enhancing customer satisfaction.
