By Cornelius Essen,
The Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) is in the process of becoming a provisional signatory to the Washington Accord (WA), which offers employment privileges to accredited graduates.
Under the pact, engineers in signatory countries – Australia, Canada, Republic of Ireland, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, UK, USA, Malaysia, India, Germany, Russia and Sri Lanka are engaged without further examinations.
The COREN President, Engr Ali Rabiu, disclosed this at a Train-the-Trainers Workshop on Outcome Based Engineering Education (OBE) programme for delegates from the Faculty of Engineering of Nigerian universities in the North-Central zone held in Abuja.
He said: “We want to live up to our mandate of regulating engineering practice in all ramifications to bring it up to speed with international best practices and expand engineering programmes in Nigerian universities.
Rabiu said COREN plans to strengthen the accreditation system and midwife a process that would lead to local and international recognition of engineering qualifications from higher educational institutions in Nigeria.
He said the next stage is to assemble a critical mass of knowledgeable and experienced persons in OBE as well as mentees of OBE learning environment, who are to pioneer and champion the capacity development of the various strata of engineering professionals involved in training, practicing and regulation (now referred to as University-based OBE implementers).
“The goal is to prepare participants to acquire the knowledge and skill of OBE and be able to train others on the principles and implementations of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) in Nigeria Universities,” he said.
The Dean, College of Engineering, Joseph Tarka University, Makurdi, Prof. J. A. Enokela, thanked COREN for making the workshop a reality, adding, the training is one of the best things that will happen in the quest to revolutionalise the profession in Nigeria.(Guardian)