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ASSESSMENT OF FOREIGN ENGINEERING QUALIFICATIONS
The Engineering Council of Namibia (ECN) is the statutory body which regulates the engineering profession in Namibia. The Engineering Council’s mandate is to protect the health and safety of the Namibian public and its main function is to register Professional Engineers, Engineers in Training, Incorporated Engineers, Incorporated Engineers in Training, Engineering Technicians and Engineering Technicians in Training. Registration with the Engineering Council of Namibia (ECN) is a two part process and is based on the following criteria:
(1) Academic Qualification (2) Experiential Training
WHEN AN APPLICATION, TOGETHER WITH THE APPLICANT’S ACADEMIC QUALIFICATION IS SUBMITTED FOR REGISTRATION, THE APPLICANT SHOULD BEAR IN MIND THAT NOT ALL ENGINEERING QUALIFICATIONS ARE KNOWN TO THE ECN.
HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER I AM THE HOLDER OF AN UNKNOWN QUALIFICATION?
Once you have submitted your application for registration and your academic qualification scrutinized, the Registrar would inform you whether your qualification is known by the ECN. In other words, whether this particular engineering programme, at this particular tertiary institution, has been assessed by the ECN before. If it was not assessed by the ECN before, an in-depth assessment would be required. An in depth assessment is the process during which it will be determined whether an applicant has a fully-fledged engineering qualification, and if positive, in which category the applicant may be registered.
The purpose of this document is to inform:
1. Any person who is the holder of an academic qualification in engineering that has not been assessed before by the ECN; and
2. Namibians who are recipients of scholarships from the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund and who are studying engineering in foreign countries that have bilateral agreements with Namibia, of what documents they are required to bring back when they return to Namibia after graduating.
THE IN-DEPTH ASSESSMENT PROCESS
The ECN Standards are used to assess the engineering content and the level of a qualification. This will determine whether the qualification meets the prescribed engineering standards and, if so, the category of registration. The ECN standards have been designed to meet international standards. It is furthermore structured on the NQF framework of Namibia and has been endorsed by the Namibia Qualifications Authority.
These standards will determine whether the relevant engineering programme covered the following knowledge areas:
· Mathematics,
· Basic Sciences,
· Engineering Sciences and Principles,
· Engineering Design and Synthesis,
· Computing and Information Technology,
· Complementary studies and
· Discretionary Studies.
After the in-depth assessment was evaluated by the ECN Programme Evaluator, an Evaluation Report would be prepared and submitted to the Applicant. This Report would indicate how the ECN programme evaluator has arrived at the outcome.
Please note that an in-depth evaluation is a time-consuming process.
However, for the ECN to conduct an in-depth assessment certain documentation has to be submitted. Please note that the Programme Evaluator can only base his evaluation on the contents of the documentation submitted to him. The documentation is listed below. The Engineering Council of Namibia urges applicants to please ensure that ALL the documents listed below, are submitted. Should it not be available, the applicant must contact the educational institution for assistance. All reputable tertiary institutions that offer engineering programmes should have the information readily available.
LIST OF DOCUMENTS NEEDED FOR AN IN-DEPTH ASSESSMENT
Please ensure that these documents are available in soft copy as you will also be requested to submit it electronically.
1. Certified Copy of Original Qualification (in language of origin).
2. Certified Copy of Qualification in English (if the original qualification is not in English, a sworn translation thereof in English)
3. Certified Copy of Detailed Official Academic Record, indicating subject, subject code, grade or % obtained (if not in English, a sworn English translation thereof must be provided). A detailed academic record must show the results of all subjects in which examinations were taken (even the failed subjects) as well as all the subjects registered for, but cancelled at a later stage. Where grades are provided, these must be accompanied by an explanation of the grading system as part of the record. The grade awarded for failure must also be provided and if there is no grade for failure, this must be stated. It is also important that the translated documents (academic record, curriculum and syllabi) are consistent with the names of subjects and must also indicate the subject’s codes.
4. Curriculum (indicating subject, subject code, credit rating, (if not in English, a sworn translation thereof in English).
5. Detailed Syllabus (proving details of subjects, synopsis of course content)
6. Final Year Project Report/Thesis (if not in English, a sworn English translation thereof).
7. Definition of a credit at the institution at which the applicant has studied
8. Contact details of the tertiary institution at which you have studied.
CATEGORIES OF REGISTRATION WITH THE ECN
There are three categories of registration:
Professional Engineer category
The academic qualification should be at least on an NQF Level 8 and have a minimum of 560 NQF credits as determined by the Standards for Professional Bachelor degrees in Engineering.
Incorporated Engineer category
The academic qualification should be at least on an NQF Level 7 and have a minimum of 460 NQF credits as determined by the Standards for Bachelor of Technology degrees in Engineering.
Engineering Technician category
The academic qualification should be at least on an NQF Level 6 and have a minimum of 360 NQF credits as determined by the Standards for Diplomas in Engineering.
WHERE CAN I FIND THE ECN STANDARDS?
The above-mentioned ECN Standards can be downloaded from the ECN website: ecnamibia.org or may be requested from the ECN office at the following e-mail address:
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ASSESSMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS BY THE NAMIBIA QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY AND THE ENGINEERING COUNCIL OF NAMIBIA?
The Engineering Council of Namibia (ECN) and the Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA) are two statutory bodies having a relationship with regards to the evaluation of qualifications. It is important for applicants to understand that there is a difference between the evaluations done by the Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA) and the Engineering Council of Namibia (ECN). The NQA does not have the mandate or the capacity to determine the standard or level of engineering qualifications for the purpose of registration with the ECN.
The one very important criteria which is applied by the NQA is to check whether a qualification (they do not assess whether it is an engineering qualification), is listed on the database of a recognized Quality Assurance Body, eg. UK Naric. Information on these databases enables the NQA to provide information in their evaluation reports which is at a generic level and only determines a comparable value of a qualification. The Namibia Qualifications Authority does not indicate that the curriculum studied covered all the knowledge areas of an engineering programme, or that the curriculum and the academic record correspond. The Namibia Qualifications Authority does not make any decision, for formal recognition purposes, concerning the use of any evaluation made by it.
Evaluations by the NQA are not binding on competent recognition authorities, e.g. the ECN, who apply their own criteria when determining access or entry into the engineering profession.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT APPLICANTS ARE AWARE OF THE DIFFERENCE OF THE MINIMUM NQF CREDITS REQUIRED BY THE NAMIBIA QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY AND THE MINIMUM NQF CREDITS REQUIRED BY THE ENGINEERING COUNCIL OF NAMIBIA FOR PURPOSES OF REGISTRATION. See difference in table below:
QUALIFICATION LEVEL / ECN / NQALevel 8 Qualification
Professional Bachelor degrees in Engineering
(Professional Engineer category) / 560 NQF CREDITS / 480 NQF CREDITS
Level 7 Qualification
Bachelor of Technology Degrees in Engineering
(Incorporated Engineer category) / 480 NQF CREDITS / 360 NQF CREDITS
Level 6 Qualification
Diplomas in Engineering
(Engineering Technician category) / 360 NQF CREDITS / 220 NQF CREDITS
From the above table, it can be seen that the required levels by the NQA are different to the required levels by the ECN.
In conclusion applicants should know that The Engineering Professions Act (Act 18 of 1986) provides that only the Engineering Council of Namibia is competent to determine whether a qualification is a registerable engineering qualification and, if so, the applicable category of registration.
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