By Isqil Najim
The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN has been officially admitted to WashingtonAccord as Provisional member Status in Taichung City, Taiwan on June 14, 2023. This makes Nigeria the 2nd African member of Accord. By this, Nigerian engineers can work with their COREN certification in countries that are signatories to the Accord.
This is a product of years of diligence by the Council and fulfilling of many requirements by the Council. This makes Nigeria the second country in Africa to achieve this.
Washington Accord (WA) signed in 1989, under the International Engineering Alliance, is an international multi-lateral agreement between bodies responsible for accreditation or recognition of tertiary-level engineering qualifications within their jurisdictions who have chosen to work collectively to assist the mobility of professional engineers. The Accord acknowledges that accreditation of engineering academic programmes is a key foundation for the practice of engineering at the professional level in each of the countries or territories covered by the Accord.
COREN President Abubakar, announced the good news while addressing the media at a press conference in Abuja, on Thursday.
Prof Abubakar who recently takes over from Engr. Ali Rabiu recalled that COREN expressed interest in becoming a member of the W.A. in 2018 and officially submitted its application in 2019. The application, at that time, did not however, receive the minimum required number of votes from other signatories.
He said in pursuant to achieving this goal, COREN organised and hosted the Train-the-Trainers Workshops on Outcome-Based Education for University Implementors in all the six geo-political zones of the federation where 545 individuals were trained.
Abubakar said the Outcome-Based Assessment (OBA) Programme Evaluators Workshop was also organised and held in two locations where a total of 307 OBE Programme Evaluators were trained.
According to him, a database of all certified trainees from these trainings was established by COREN for storing, management and retrieval for use to meet the rising demands of OBE accreditation exercises. So far, a total of 12 Engineering programmes have been accredited under the OBE system and counting.
Five years after the application, Abubakar said the Council through hard work and robust engineering policies attained the Provisional Signatory status, which according to him, would give Nigerian Engineers global recognition and enhance global mobility of Nigerian engineers.
Tracing the history of the Accord, Prof Abubakar explained that the: “The Washington Accord (WA) signed in 1989, under the International Engineering Alliance, is an international multi-lateral agreement between bodies responsible for accreditation or recognition of tertiary-level engineering qualifications within their jurisdictions who have chosen to work collectively to assist the mobility of professional engineers. There are currently 21 countries in the WA, including the UK, USA, Germany, Canada, Japan, China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Taiwan, Singapore, Hongkong, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Switzerland, South Africa, etc.
“As practiced by the other Accords that cater for Engineering Technologists and Engineering Technicians-Sydney and Dublin, respectively, the signatories of the Washington Accord (W.A.) are committed to the development and recognition of good practice in engineering education.
“In the same vein, COREN expressed interest in becoming a member of the W.A. in 2018 and officially submitted its application in 2019, which could not receive the minimum required number of votes from other Signatories.
“Pursuant to the need for an independent accreditation system, COREN enacted the Regulations on Accreditation of Engineering Programmes in Nigeria and inaugurated the Engineering Accreditation Committee (EAC). The EAC, being the body in charge of all accreditation matters, operates independently using the COREN OBE Accreditation Manual for Engineering Programmes in Nigerian Universities and COREN Programme Evaluator Guidelines.
He added that the six-man COREN delegation was led by Abubakar to represent Nigeria at the annual IEA meetings for 2023 which was hosted by the Institute of Engineering Education Taiwan (IEET) and Chinese Institute of Engineers (CIE). Among them are COREN Registrar, Engr Prof. Ademola Adisa Bello, immediate past President, Engr Ali Rabiu, former COREN Registrar, Engr Kamila Maliki Wopa .