The President of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN, Ali Rabiu says it is in the process of becoming a provisional signatory of the Washington Award.
He said the Council becoming a signatory of the Washington Award would enable graduates of engineering programmes accredited by COREN in Nigeria the privilege of possible employment in the signatory countries as engineers without further examinations.
The signatory countries of the Washington Award includes; Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand.
Others are Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, UK, USA, Malaysia, India, Germany, Russia and Sri Lanka.
To achieve this mandate, COREN charged participants trained at the outcome-based education (OBE) workshop to in turn train others at their respective universities for proper implementation of OBE in the engineering programmes.
This according to COREN President is to make it necessary for universities to strengthen their accreditation system and to align with the rapid pace of globalization and emerging technologies for engineering faculties to meet the required standards of local employers and the international job market in the engineering and technology sector.
Mr Rabiu at the opening ceremony of the COREN Regional trainers workshop for implementation of OBE held at the University of Abuja said that COREN has over the years faced with some existential realities that make it necessary to change the paradigm of the Nigerian engineering education system.
“Firstly, there is expansion of engineering programmes in variety and number at various engineering faculties. These faculties will meet the requirements of local employers and international job markets in the engineering and technology sectors.
“COREN need to mediate in regulating the processes that lead to local and international recognition of engineering qualifications from higher educational institutions in Nigeria.
“The council resolution is to assemble a critical mass of knowledge and experienced persons in OBE as well as mentes of OBE learning environment professionals involved in training, practising and regulating in Nigeria University-based OBE implementor.
“OBE is an approach that focuses on specific attributes in terms of knowledge, skill and attitudes that must be exhibited by students. The planning, process and assessment of OBE are reverse of the associated with traditional education approach.
“The OBE students are expected to be able to do more challenging tasks rather than memorize what was taught, manage projects, analyze data and make decisions based on results. This implies that tertiary education could provide both professional knowledge/skills and all-round attributes to their graduates through the OBE approach.” He added.
He explained that, under the OBE approach, the graduates are completely prepared for the workforce after graduation with relevant soft skills needed in jobs, such as communication skills and human relationships skills.
The COREN Registrar Prof Joseph Odigure said COREN is involving all stakeholders in the outcome-based education to enhance knowledge, skills and power.
According to him, COREN is encouraging the holistic participation of every artisan within the locality to tap up the training.
“We have ignored this issue of involving the junior cadre of engineering, the technicians, the technologist and the training of our students and this is where we started.
“What we are trying to do now is we are telling the university that go and sign MOU with these smaller engineers, they may have the practical skills but they do not have the knowledge. So if an engineer, for example, becomes a skilled person there is no way he will not improve himself. He will perform better than the artisan. So we are telling them to go and learn it is part of these stakeholders,” said Odigure.
PIAK
