COREN to Adopt Stiffer Accreditation Policy on Engineering for Varsities

Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) has announced that institutions running engineering courses in Nigeria would henceforth satisfy more stringent conditions before being accredited.

The COREN said that the new conditions would usher in a paradigm shift to the profession by setting standards that would enable all university students to acquire the requisite skills that would make them more innovative to operate under the 21st century economy.

The COREN’s Registrar, Professor Joseph Odigure disclosed this yesterday in Ado Ekiti during the closing of a four-day regional train-the-trainers workshop for the implementation of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) in engineering programmes in Nigeria that was held at the Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD).

Odigure said that the workshop, which was attended by eight engineering undergraduates from each of the universities located in Ekiti, Osun, and Ondo States, was meant to enable the students to appreciate the imperative of acquiring full practical knowledge of the profession rather than following the long-standing theory trends.

He added that COREN, a professional body empowered to accredit training institutions and regulate the practice of engineers, technologists, technicians and craftsmen, would not shirk in its responsibility to ensure that the new generation engineers have the skills that could ignite innovations to drive a technologically based economy.

Odigure stated that there was need to strengthen accreditation system for engineering in universities for the purpose of producing graduates that would meet local and international demands to be attainable.

He averred that the rapid pace of globalisation and emerging technologies have made it necessary for engineering faculties to be properly regulated for local and international recognition of certificates obtained from Nigerian higher institutions.

“By implementing the OBE, students are expected to be able to do more challenging tasks, rather than memorise what was taught. This implies that tertiary education could provide professional knowledge/skills and all-round attributes to their graduates through the OBE approach.

“In addition, OBE helps to empower a workforce that can compete in a global economy of the 21st century as it equips learner to transfer academic success to life in a complex, challenging and high-technology future.

“We observed that many of our engineering graduates don’t secure jobs easily, so with OBE, they can get the required skills, knowledge and attitudes to operate independently. We want to see a system whereby lecturers would be able to teach students to get an expected output not just teaching based on the curriculum alone.

“We want to engage the local artisans and craftsmen. They too have skills so that they can partner with the academics for engineering development. They have to join the engineering revolution.

“Let us fine tune the delivery in engineering. Let us have engineering that is friendlier and that can impact skills to face the challenges of the 21st century for global development.”

Odigure stated that the OBE is an approach to education that focused on specific attributes in term of knowledge, skills and attitudes that must be exhibited by students.