 Honorable Minister, respected Maxine Henry Wilson, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to send greetings from the Commonwealth of Learning on the occasion of the launch of the National Qualifications Framework. This is an important milestone in enhancing the quality and relevance of tertiary education in Jamaica, and Kaul is honored to have been part of this journey. Kaul is an inter-governmental organization with the mandate to work in 52 countries out of which 30 are small states. Ministers of Education had directed Kaul to establish a virtual university for the small states of the Commonwealth for strengthening existing tertiary institutions for human resource development. This was done over 10 years ago and is now a thriving network with Jamaica as an active member. Not only did the small states work together to develop needs-based courses, but they also developed a transnational qualifications framework to enable the movement of credits and qualified people across national borders. The objective of the TQF is to support the development, international recognition and comparability of courses offered within the virtual university context. National institutions from small states that wish to offer educational programs that are co-branded with BUSC are required to have these programs approved by the institution, the national qualifications authority, and where applicable the regional qualifications body. Programs of institutions in countries which do not have qualifications authorities can also be considered for registration on the TQF, provided that the qualifications are quality assured in their country of origin. By referencing and registering programs on the TQF, national qualifications can have a Commonwealth wide acceptance. Jamaica played a key role in the development and implementation of the TQF and was ably representative on the TQF management committee by Dr. Evenet Marshall. Jamaica was also instrumental in referencing the CARICOM qualifications framework against the TQF. With so much experience and expertise in designing qualifications frameworks, the Jamaican national qualifications framework is bound to be a model for those still grappling with this issue. We are very grateful to Jamaica Honourable Minister for its financial and intellectual contributions. As the former chair of CALL's International Board of Governors, the Honourable Birchell Whiteman always inspired and encouraged us to make a difference to the life of the last person in the queue. I would like to congratulate Maxine Henry-Billson, a well-known stalwart of tertiary education in the region, for leading this initiative and to say how much we value our partnership. Thank you very much and good luck.