NCHE warns against courses that are not accredited
NAMWANJE SALMAH
The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) has warned parents against institutions whose courses are not accredited; this was during the signing of a tripartite Memorandum of understanding with the Engineers Registration Board (ERB) and the Uganda Institution of Professional Engineers (UIPE).
The Memorandum is to purposely facilitate the accreditation of engineering programmes in the country.
The director Quality Assurance at the NCHE said: "The public should exercise due diligence by checking with the NCHE to establish whether an institution has been permitted to teach engineering courses before registering their children there’’.
In Uganda out of the over twenty thousand who have studied engineering, only one thousand two hundred are registered and published in the Uganda Gazette and entitled to adopt and use the style and title before their names.
The Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act requires the NCHE to accredit professional programmes in consultation with professional associations and regulatory bodies.
The Engineers Registration Board (ERB) mandated to regulate and control engineers and their activities where as the Uganda Institution of Professional Engineers is an institution responsible for the continuance of engineering training and education.
The NCHE works jointly with the two bodies to carry out joint physical inspection, monitoring, evaluation and verification of institutional facilities among others.
This is done purposely for accrediting the program and to review minimum standards for engineering programs.
