Engineers may soon find it easier to work, study abroad

In two months, India is likely to become a permanent member of an international accord that will make its graduate engineering degrees recognized among all member-states. Permanent membership of the Washington Accord will benefit hundreds of thousands of students from more than 3,000 engineering colleges in the country, said the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which regulates technical education. It will make the four-year bachelor of technology (B.Tech.) degree offered by AICTE-approved and accredited institutes equivalent to similar degrees offered in 13 other permanent member countries of the accord. These are the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and South Africa.

Besides making it easier for Indian engineers to study further, or work in these countries, India’s permanent membership will also facilitate faculty exchanges, international collaborations and joint research work. Engineering students who have already graduated may not enjoy the same benefits.

“A two-member committee is visiting New Delhi in early February to meet us and tour several engineering colleges in the country in this regard. Our aspiration to become a permanent member should get realized soon after,” AICTE Chairman S.S. Mantha said. The panel will include a member each from the US and Singapore.

The Washington Accord came into existence in 1989. To become its permanent member, a country needs to be a temporary member for two years. India’s temporary membership will expire in July 2011. Russia, Turkey, Germany, Pakistan and Sri Lanka also currently hold temporary membership. While taking the temporary membership, India asked for a review of its accreditation system and the standard of its engineering degrees. After the review, a team suggested reforms in the accreditation system.

Mantha said over the past 18 months, AICTE has been implementing these changes, such as online application processing and clearance of accreditation. The system has also been made more transparent, with institutes posting infrastructure and faculty details on their as well as the AICTE’s website. A better monitoring system has also been put in place.

“This academic session, all fresh permission and renewal of AICTE recognition was done online. The monitoring was regular and the educational institutes were also cooperative in uploading a variety of details. We hope this has strengthened our stand,” Mantha said. AICTE, which is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), has sent a preliminary report to the accord committee on the changes brought in over the past year, he added.

J. Veeraraghavan, former education secretary, said India should become a member of the accord if it helps improve the quality and accreditation standards of engineering education. “We should go for improving (the) quality of our engineering degrees through this. If it talks about relaxing our regulating standard, then we should refrain.” The accord will increase the global mobility of Indian engineers, said Veeraraghavan, who is now the director of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, an educational trust. “India should not worry about brain drain as we have a huge manpower pool. India can increase the engineering student intake and fulfil its demand, as well as the demand of some other countries,” he added. India produces nearly 800,000 engineers every year. The Union government plans to add 200,000 more seats in the next academic year.

India’s permanent membership of the Washington Accord will not benefit the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), a group of 15 elite engineering colleges that has its own reguatory mechanism, and does not fall under AICTE’s purview. IITs already have collaborations with leading overseas institutes.

Source: Mint, December 30, 2010