WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LOSE ACCREDITATION?

By | 01:39
Despite graduating with upper second-class honours degree, the graduate has not been able to get work at any reputable firm. The future is so bleak all thanks to one document: the certificate of recognition that was no longer being issued to Bachelor of engineering technology and technicians anymore. PHOTO | FILE
Despite graduating with upper second-class honours degree, the graduate has not been able to get work at any reputable firm. The future is so bleak all thanks to one document: the certificate of recognition that was no longer being issued to Bachelor of engineering technology and technicians anymore.
By ELIZABETH MERAB
Godwin John Okello is a distressed young man. He probably has had more sleepless nights thinking about his future than he did studying as a student.
He always knew that a good grade was a sure ticket to  college and a prestigious job thereafter.
“When we were in school, we were always told that poor grades will never land you a job. Since I wanted a job, I could not afford to fail,” says Okello.
He did not even know much  about the course he had been called for. And as he says, “All I desired to do was engineering regardless of the branch.”
But as he would later realise, with the course he studied, a good grade was not all that was needed to secure his desired profession.
Since graduating last year, the 22 year old laments that he has sent countless applications in search of a job. Every effort more futile than the last.
His tribulations started soon after completing his university education.
IN LIMBO
“I had just completed the course work and was awaiting graduation in December,” he recalls.
“That was when chaos erupted in school after the Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK) issued a statement that it would no longer register Bachelor of Technology students.”
The future, as he later realize would be so bleak all thanks to one document: the certificate of recognition that was no longer being issued to Bachelor of engineering technology and technicians anymore.
“You can imagine the predicament I was in. After four years of tedious study, an announcement that the course is no longer accredited is made,” he says in a distraught voice.
Despite graduating with upper second-class honours degree, the first born child has not been able to get work at any reputable firm.
“Whenever I am called for an interview, the first thing the employer asks for is the certificate of registration. Others even peg it among the requirements for applying for the job.”
Unfortunately, Okello is not the only one in this pickle. About 3,000 others pursuing the same course at the Technical University and its subsidiary colleges have been affected.
Last year, the Engineers’ Board of Kenya was at loggerheads with several institutions in the country after it withdrew accreditation of some engineering courses on the basis that they were not meeting fresh quality demands of the board.
The announcement by the regulatory board pushed students to protest in the streets, in a bid to at least an assurance that their courses were valid after years of study.
Although the Ministry of Education promised to address the matter, some institutions are still in limbo on how to go about it.
Among them are students of Technical University of Kenya (TUK) who are yet to get clear information on whether or not to continue with their courses.
“I will graduate in December with a degree in Engineering Technology but thereafter I do not know where I will go. Already, getting internship is problematic because everyone wants to see that crucial document,” says a livid Raphael Ragot, a final year student at the university.
As the students lament, their lecturers are embroiled in a battle to have the Engineering Technology and Technicians Bill 2015 passed by parliament.
“To date the board has not gone back to issue accreditation to our Bachelor of Technology and Engineering Technician students,” says TUK Vice Chancellor, Francis Aduol.
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
Proffesor Aduol adds that the Bill is crucial since it will create a body that will also assist in the approval and implantation of these contested course in all Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
Stated in the EBK Act, an engineer is a professional who holds a valid licence. However, the Act does not stipulate how the two branches of engineering (B.Tech and technician) are accommodated to ensure that they are registered under the same board.
This deficiency led to the drafting of the engineering technologists Bill.
“These cadres of engineering technology professionals are not presently registered and regulated as per the international standards,” says Prof Aduol.
While the vice chancellor argues that the Bill is meant to provide a legal framework for the regulation, practice and standards of the technologists and technicians, EBK Registrar, Nicholas Musuni thinks otherwise..
“The only new thing that the bill has is the clause that allows for registration of the two courses which was unfortunately struck out of the EBK Act,” says Mr Musuni.
“We are working in accordance with the law. Since the provision to accredit technologists and technicians was removed, we had no choice but abide,” he says.
On the other hand, to avoid duplication and address the matter, Mr Musuni says that the board is already in talks with relevant authorities to have the registration of the courses reinstated within the board’s Act.
“We already met with parliament to amend the Act so that we can accredit the technologists and technicians who are graduating. They are part of the larger engineers’ body,” says Musuni.
By 2030, Kenya is estimated to have a population of about 60 million. This population, Prof Aduol says, will require about 7,500 engineers, 22,500 Engineering Technologists and almost 90,000 technicians.
 “There is no way that as a country we expect to achieve vision 2030 if we keep borrowing technology from China. We must learn how to mentor and facilitate our own and one of the steps to do so is by registering them so that they can legally practice what they are taught,” says Prof Aduol.
As an amicable middle ground is yet to be reached, Mr Musuni says that the graduates will have to wait for their fate to be decided.

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