Engineers’ Accreditation and Mobility in and East Africa

A paper presented at the High Level Policy Forum on Engineering Accreditation and Mobility in Africa, July 18, 2016, Abuja, Nigeria

By Eng. Benedict Mukama Assistant Registrar-Professional Development Affairs Engineers Registration Board - Tanzania

Abstract

Pursuant Sect.7(1)-(6) of the Act, the Engineers Registration Board ( ERB) is mandated in collaboration with the Tanzania Commission for Universities to accredit engineering programmes. The Mutual Recognition Agreement for EAC countries also recognizes engineering programmes accredited by Competent Authorities (engineering regulatory bodies) of the partner states. This paper narrates the accreditation process in Tanzania and the mutual recognition of engineering programmes and qualifications which is a gateway for facilitating the mobility of engineers in the East African partner states.

1. Introduction

The East African Community (EAC) is made of 6 countries namely Tanzania, Kenya , Uganda, Rwanda , Burundi and Southern Sudan with a poulation of about 170,000,000 and a total of about 30,000 engineers. The Southern Sudan joined the community recently on 2nd March 2016

In Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda the accreditation of engineering programmes falls under the jurisdiction of the respective competent authorities of the East African countries namely the Engineers Registration Board, the Engineers Board of Kenya, and the Engineers Registration Board of Uganda and respectively the .

The three EAC countries namely Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda signed the Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) on 7th December 2012 in order to facilitate free movement of engineers in the region. Rwanda signed on 1st March 2016 whereas Burundi is yet to sign the agreement after putting in placeall professional regulatory requirements as recommended by the regional body.

Through the Mutual Recognition Agreement, engineers who are registered and licensed in any of the home countries can offer engineering services freely to any of the partner states. This applies to recognition of accreditated institutions and programmes in any of the partner states. Beneficiaries of the MRA

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include: professionals from Partner States, Regulatory Bodies and Professional Associations, Consumers etc

2. Accreditation of Engineering Programmes in Tanzania

The MRA requires the Competent Authorities to accredit institutions for the training of students in engineering. The responsibility of accreditation of engineering programmes in institutions of higher learning in Tanzania lies with ERB. In so doing the Board collaborates with the Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU) and other relevant institutions such as the National Council for Technical Education (NACTE).

Accreditation of programmes ensures: o That the standards and quality are maintained; o Compliance with the quality standards; o Existence of Quality Assurance at institutions to guarantee quality implementation and sustainability; o Consistency across institutions nationally, regionally and internationally;

Accreditation process in Tanzania

In Tanzania, the Engineers Registration Board (ERB) has prepared by-laws (art.5 – 7) to guide on the the accreditation of engineering programmes:

The Board has prepared a standard checklist which is used for verification of availability of the following items in each engineering programme: o Practical training; o Workshops; o Human resources; o Classrooms/desogn rooms; o Libraries; o Laboratories/practicals/projects; o Teaching and Learning process

An istitution for training of persons in the engineering profession shall submit the following to the Board:  Syllabus of its programme;  Staffing (Academic, Technical /curriculum)  Physical facilities (Laboratories, Workshops, Classrooms, Office accomodation, recreation facilities etc);  Library facilities; 2

 Management ;  Sources of funding

ERB appoints knowledgeable and experienced engineers from academics and industry as resource paersons for conducting the accreditation visits;

ERB in collaboration with TCU and NACTE carries out visitation to all Engineering programmea in the institutions to ensure that Engineering programmes and teaching facilities meet the above requirements.

In Tanzania, the Board through collaboration with TCU have accredited 20 engineering programmes offered by 9 acredited institutions of higher learning (7 public and 2 private institutions) (see Table 1).

S/N Name of Programme No. of students Name of Institution offering the Intake 2013/14 Programme 1 Computer Engineering & IT 1,052 SJUIT, UDSM, MUST,UDOM 2 Software Engineering 430 SJUIT 3 Electronics + Telecom Eng. 483 SJUIT, DIT, UDOM 4 Civil Engineering 675 SJUIT, DIT, MUST, UDSM 5 Electrical Engineering 437 SJUIT, DIT, MUST, UDSM 6 Mechanical Engineering 375 SJUIT, DIT, UDSM 7 Agricultural Engineering 110 SUA, SJUIT 8 Irrigation/Water Resources 40 SUA 9 Civil and Irrigation 25 ATC 10 Mining 85 UDOM, UDSM 11 Metallurgy/Mineral Process 70 UDSM 12 Chemical and Processing Eng 60 UDSM 13 Food Processing 60 SJUIT 14 Environmental Engineering 50 ARU 15 Automobile Engineering 50 NIT 16 Petroleum Engineering 45 UDOM 17 Bio-processing/Post Harvest 40 SUA 18 Industrial Engineering 35 UDSM 19 Textile Engineering 20 UDSM 20 Municipal & Industrial 20 ARU Services All Programmes 4,162

Table 1: Accredited engineering programmes 9 accredited institutions of higher learning

Note: UDSM - University of UDOM - University of Dodoma ARU - SUA - Sokoine University of Agriculture MUST - Mbeya University of Science and Technology DIT - Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology 3

ATC - Arusha Technical College NIT - National Institute of Transport

Apart from that, the Board accredits all short engineering courses offered by engineering regulatory bodies and associations in the country, such as the Institution of Engineers Tanzania (IET), the Association of Consulting Engineers Tanzania (ACET), the National Construction Company (NCC), the Contractors Registration Board (CRB). The Board

3. Mutual Recognition Agreement for Engineers and Mobility of Engineers in Tanzania and East Africa

On December 7, 2012, East African countries including Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda signed the Mutual Recognition Agreement for Engineers in Arusha , Tanzania. Three years later Rwanda joined the other three countries to sign. Burundi has not yet signed as it has to put in place the necessary legal and institutional framework of the engineering professsion. Southern Sudan has just joined the community, The parties also known as the Competent Authorities that have signed the MRA include the i. The Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK); ii. The Engineers Registration Board (ERB) – Tanzania; iii. The Engineers Registration Board (ERB) – Uganda; and iv. The Engineering Council of Rwanda.

With the mutual agreement, a new era of ‘engineers without borders’ has been ushered in the East African region in which each country’s registered engineers are now free to practice anywhere within the region.

One of the important aspects underlying the basic framework for mutual recognition is accreditation; whereby qualifications are considered recognized if obtained from an accredited engineering programme offered by an accredited institution. Accreditation of engineering programmes in institutions of higher learning is of paramount importance.

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EAC Registrars at the MRA signing ceremony, Arusha, Tanzania, 7th December 2012

Mobility of engineers in the East African countries

The major aim of developing and subsequent signing of the MRA was to facilitate the cross-border movement of engineering professionals between the EAC member states. The MRA identifies the facilitation of mobility of engineers and professional engineering services as one of its key objectives (Article 5.1) and denotes the undertaking by the Competent Authorities to advocate for the elimination of the restrictions whatsoever (Article 6.2.1).

The total number of engineers in the EAC region in percentage is distributed as shown in the Table below. Rwanda 3 % Uganda 8%

Kenya 26%

Tanzania 63% 5

Within four years of the MRA signing, there has been a movement of engineers within the EAC as summarized in Table 1 below;

Table 1: Engineers in the EAC

S/N Engineers Category Tanzania Kenya Uganda Rwanda Burundi Total 1 No. of Engineers GE 9,502 7,221 2,861 PE 4,516 1,531 614 CE 372 337 Others 2,730 Total 17,120 9,089 3,475 2 Mobility of Engs. to - 57 5 2 2 66 Tanzania from

3 Mobility to Kenya from 4 Mobility to Uganda - - - - - from 5 Mobility to Rwanda 15

6 Mobility to Burundi

TOTAL 81

From the Table above, in total (81) applications of engineers were exchanged in the region. Two of the five EAC member states received such application requests i.e. Tanzania received 56 and Rwanda 15. Out of the nine (9) applications requests exchanged in the region, seven (7) of them resulted into licences being granted.

4. Collaboration with other countries

Regionally, through the MRA the Engineers Registration Board (ERB) collaborates with other four (4) EA countries and has exchanged visits with the following EA countries – Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

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Globally, ERB collaborates with other countries through visits exchanges in such other countries . ERB has visited and exchanged experiences with engineering regulatory bodies from the following countries:  Practice Qalification Registration Centre (PQRC) - China  Board of Engineers Malaysia  Botswana  COREN -Nigeria

Tanzania, though not signatory of the Washington Accord, the Board recognizes the substantial equivalency of programs accredited by those bodies.

5. Conclusion

The MRA has proved beneficial to both the practioners as well as the client organizations. Its impact of empowering professionals through mobility and accessibility in the EAC region falls spot on to the goals of its establishment. Collaboration amongst professionals, as well, is an indicator of a deepening integration in the profession.

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Acronyms

SJUIT St Joseph University in Tanzania UDSM University of Dar es Salaam MUST Mbeya University of Science and Technology UDOM University of Dodoma DIT Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology SUA Sokoine University of Agriculture ATC Arusha Technical College ARU Ardhi University NIT National Institute of Transport

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