India joins the Washington Accord: HRD Ministry On The Move
India joins the Washington Accord: HRD Ministry On The Move
After a 7 year wait, India has now become the 17th member of the Washington Accord. This is a major score for HRD Minister Smriti Irani and the officers of the HRD ministry. It is also a victory for India's teeming young workforce and our technical education institutes and universities. India became the member of the Washington Accord on June 13, 2014.
This has created the equivalence of engineering degree programmes and enables Indians to be able to practice engineering in several member countries. The credit for making India a member of the Washington Accord goes to several key individuals as well. Raman Menon Unnikrishnan of the California State University, Fullerton argued in favour of India with efforts from National Board of Accreditation member secretary Dinesh K. Paliwal and education secretary Ashok Thakur.
Paliwal managed and organized the World Summit on Accreditation in the year 2012 for backroom diplomacy to pave the way for India's membership for the accord. The process of accreditation had commenced during late Arjun Singh's tenure. When Kapil Sibal was the HRD minister, India was a temporary member. With a comprehensive audit of the NBA undertaken in the month of January by the team of Washington Accord, things have taken a turn for the better.
What is needed to add the icing to the cake is validity for the IT engineers as well. This accord is not extended to the IT field. India will have to sign the Seoul Accord to create similar equivalence of programs. However, membership of the Washington Accord does not mean all engineering college degrees will get equivalence with that of member nations. The NBA has shortlisted around 220 engineering colleges as Tier-I institutes whose undergrad engineering programmes is in line with the Accord.
Another condition is that Tier-1 institutes which includes IITs, NITs, BITs Pilani and other autonomous as well as deemed universities will have to apply to NBA only after extensive programme verification of programmes so that they can be part of the Washington Accord institutions. Massive redesigning of the course will emerge with emphasis to outcomes. Students will also be given room to explore and innovate.
Tier-II institutions have been given a roadmap so that they can become members of the Accord. Universities have been asked to allow affiliated engineering colleges to design at least 50% of the course. The Washington Accord also emphasises on teaching social sciences along with engineering. So engineers will have knowledge about the environment and an understanding of society, management and communication skills. This can help them to excel better at their field.
With this membership, Indian professionals will now get an opportunity to expand their reach beyond a select few locations and practice across a wide range of international locations.
