COREN visits UI for Programme Evaluation
COREN visits UI for Programme Evaluation
The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) has arrived at the University of Ibadan for an Outcome Based Education (OBE) Accreditation of seven engineering programmes of the University of Ibadan. The programmes are Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Petroleum Engineering,
Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, Wood Products Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Industrial and Production Engineering.
The team was led to the office of the Vice-Chancellor on a courtesy visit by Prof. Christian Bolu of the Pan-Atlantic University.
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Kayode O. Adebowale, mni, FAS, acknowledged that accreditation exercises allow for comparisons that will improve the quality of the programmes.
He assured the assessors of the maximum cooperation of the University of Ibadan in achieving the purposes of the visit.
The Vice-Chancellor expressed his appreciation to COREN for its contributions towards the pursuit of improvement in the field of engineering to achieve professional excellence.
He charged the industry to work with the academia to promote scholarship and quality in the workplace.
The leader of the visiting team, Prof. Christian Bolu pointed out that one of COREN's major mandates is to accredit engineering programmes, in line with the Council's Act, to promote quality assurance.
He said this was aimed at ensuring that graduates of engineering programmes from universities, polytechnics, and technical colleges turn out to be well-prepared, competent, and efficient engineering personnel who can meet the challenges of both the present and the future, and would have the capacity to compete favourably with their counterparts worldwide.
He emphasised the importance of ensuring these qualities in the curriculum of the training institutions to build capacity.
Prof. Bolu said the attention of the COREN had been drawn to the general outcry by employers of labour to the persistent skill shortage whereby academically sound engineering graduates are unable to express practical functionality on their jobs.
He lamented that there was a large disconnect between what is taught and that which is expected of engineering graduates on the field.
The team lead said COREN has adopted the Outcome Based Education (OBE), the missing link, for engineering programmes in Nigeria, and has produced the necessary tools that will help to address these concerns.
He, therefore, encouraged universities to key into the development, assuring that the adoption of the OBE will pave the way for the internationalization of the Nigerian engineering qualifications, thus, an improvement in the quality, proficiency, and global mobility of Nigerian engineers.
