BEM ASSISTS NIGERIA IN PURSUING ENGINEERING ACCREDITATION

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 (Bernama) -- The Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) continues to strengthen its role at the international level, by assisting Nigeria towards full signatory status under the Sydney Accord and Dublin Accord, through a mentoring programme in collaboration with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).

In a Facebook post, BEM said that Nigeria, which attained signatory status under the Washington Accord in June 2023, is now focusing its efforts on securing recognition under the Sydney and Dublin Accords, particularly for Engineering Technology Education and Engineering Technician programmes.

“Malaysia, which has attained full signatory status for all three Accords, is sharing its experience and expertise to help Nigeria align its systems and accreditation standards with global practices,” the board said.

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It added that its Engineering Accreditation Department director, Zairul Amri Zakaria, was appointed to represent the board in the initiative, which took place recently in Nigeria, from Feb 7 to 13.

Throughout the programme, the BEM delegation held engagement sessions with COREN’s leadership, including its chief executive officer, Prof Okorie Austin Uche; COREN chairman, Prof Christian A. Bolu; and COREN Accreditation director, Prof Baba Jibril El Yakubu.

“The mentoring programme allows us to help Nigeria enhance its engineering accreditation system, while also broadening our own experience and learning.

“It is not merely a technical exchange, but also opens avenues for sharing best practices, adapting strategies and strengthening capacity building in the engineering field,” said Zairul Amri.

The programme also included sessions on Malaysia’s best practices, covering the evaluation of programme outcome achievements and educational objectives, as well as continuous quality improvement through the implementation of best practices and systematic documentation management.

In addition, visits were conducted to Dorben Polytechnic in Abuja and Yaba College of Technology in Lagos, to assess the readiness of Nigeria’s higher education institutions in their efforts to achieve signatory status under the Sydney and Dublin Accords.

BEM said that it remains committed to supporting countries which require technical advisory services and the sharing of expertise, to strengthen accreditation systems and build sustainable capacity in the engineering field.

-- BERNAMA