National council for higher education has officially signed a memorandum of association with the Uganda institute of professional engineers and the engineers registration board aimed at enforcing the highest level of quality courses offered by tertiary institutions in the country through accreditation.
Speaking to the media today after the signing of the pact, the director quality assurance at the council, Pamela Tibilikirra Kalyegira says, the tripartite MOU will facilitate the accreditation of engineering programmes in Uganda as per the section 5D of universities and tertiary institutions Act.
Pamela further says, the parties are obliged to jointly inspect and development, monitoring, verify of institution facilities for purse of accrediting the programmes among other obligation geared towards improving the quality of engineering programmes.
However, the vice chairperson, engineers registration board, Eng. Henry Francis Okinyol and the president, Uganda institution of professional engineers, Eng.Fredrick Kiwanuka says, this is one of the steps to see that people go under proper training in the hands of well trained enginners.
The add that this will then scale down on the number of quack engineers who have led to loss of lives and property.
Meanwhile, the parties are cautioning parents and students not to go to universities and institutions which have not be accredited to offer the engineering courses, otherwise their papers will hold not substance after the course.
Currently Uganda has 1200 registered professional engineers against 20,000 trained engineers.
Uganda has for years experienced collapse of buildings under construction and professional engineers always attribute it to quack engineers employed by site owners as a means sometimes to minimize resources.
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