NAN-H-50
Engineers
By Monday Ijeh
Abuja, Aug. 8, 2017 (NAN) Mr Kashim Ali, the President, Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) says Nigerian engineers registered under the council now have mutual recognition in 48 countries.
Ali said this in Abuja on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the 26th Annual Engineering Assembly of COREN with the theme, Entrepreneurship and Manufacturing in Nigeria: Challenges and Opportunities for a Better Future.
He said that the recognition followed the review of the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standard (BMAS) for accreditation of undergraduate engineering programme in Nigerian Universities by COREN.
“To this end, our BMAS was distributed for review to UNESCO, International Science, Technology and Innovation Centre and the Federation of Engineering Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (FEIAP).
“The review turned out really positive, leading to the admission of COREN after due formalities as member of FEIAP.
“The implication of this is that, Nigerian engineers duly registered by COREN now have mutual recognition in 48 countries including Australia, Malaysia, Pakistan, China amongst others,” he said.
Ali said that BMAS was reviewed to ensure it was outcome based in conformity with the global trend and added that the idea was to raise the profile of engineering education in Nigeria.
According to him, in doing this, the council decided to benchmark Nigerian engineering qualifications against those of nations with high international standards.
Ali said the inauguration of the Guidelines to Outcome Based Education Benchmark for Engineering Programme in Nigeria Universities had made COREN’s accreditation protocol more robust.
He said that the council’s accreditation team had noted with great concern the tendency of institutions to admit too many students even when existing facilities were grossly inadequate.
“While COREN acknowledges the need to increase access to tertiary education for our youths, this must not be done at the expense of quality education.
“COREN will not hesitate to apply necessary sanctions on institutions found to have flouted recommended carrying capacities for these programme,” he said.
Gov. Tanko Al-makura of Nasarawa State said the theme of the assembly was timely in view of the mood of the nation and the policy framework of the present Federal Government.
He said that the cardinal objective of the current administration was to diversify the nation’s economy through the entrenchment of entrepreneurship.
Al-makura urged the assembly participants to take advantage of the opportunity to brainstorm on the gamut of issues associated with entrepreneurship, manufacturing and construction which was the core mandate of engineering profession.
“We expect that participants at this occasion should be able to come up with innovative and workable solutions to the problems bedeviling the engineering sector in the country.’’
The governor called on the stakeholders to use the opportunity created by the assembly to evaluate the important role played by the artisans who would not want to be called quacks.
“With the kind of critical roles played by these artisans, COREN should consider to be flexible in evolving mechanisms such as training to provide certification and recognise them members of the council.
“This will go a long way in reducing Nigeria from being a dumping ground for all kinds of pseudo engineers as expatriates in Nigeria,” he said. (NAN)
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