Transcript Document
CBE DELEGATION TO ZAMBIA Presentation by Mr Christopher “Chris” Campbell President of ECSA 24/25 February 2011 Outline • The engineering profession in South Africa • History, mandate and functions of ECSA • Registration • Accreditation of engineering programmes • Evaluation of Educational Qualifications • Regulate professional conduct 2 Structure of the Engineering Profession • ECSA: A statutory body created by Acts of 1968, 1990, 2000 • Regulates the practice of engineering in South Africa through – Registration – Accreditation of engineering education programmes – Regulating Professional Conduct – Setting standards for education and registration • Act in the interests of the public • Advise government • ECSA partners with the engineering voluntary associations 3 Engineering Voluntary Associations Serve the interests of their members, promote their disciplines • Aeronautical Society of SA (AeSSA) • SA Institute of Agricultural Engineers (SAIAE) • SA Institution of Chemical Engineers (SAIChE) • SA Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) • SA Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE) • SA Institute for Industrial Engineers (SAIIE) • SA Institution of Mechanical Engineering (SAIMechE) • SA Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM) • Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) • Institute of Professional Engineering Technologists (IPET) • Chamber of Engineering Technology (COET) • + ….. others 4 Relationships in the Profession ECSA Functions: •Register •Accredit •Regulate Professional Conduct •Set Standards •Act in the interests of the public •Advise government Recognition Nominate Council and Committee Members Provider Peer Assessors, Accreditors, Investigators Presidents Forum Engineering Voluntary Associations AeSSA SAIAE SAIChE SAICE SAIEE SAIIE SAIMechE SAIMM CESA IPET COET + ….. 5 History of ECSA 1960-1968 Voluntary Associations motivated regulatory body for engineering 1968: South African Council for Professional Engineers (SACPE) – Registration of Professional Engineers 1980’s: Boards of Control for Technicians, Technologists, Certificated Engineers 1990: Engineering Professions of SA Act – ECSA formed – Registration of Technologists,Technicians, Certificated Engineers 2000: Engineering Profession Act – ECSA continued – Wider registration and education powers 6 ECSA’s Core Functions • Registration of – Professionals – Candidates – Specified categories • Renewal of registration and CPD • Accreditation of engineering programmes • Recognition and evaluation of qualifications – Conduct examinations • Define and enforce professional conduct • Identification of work • Define guideline fees for professional services 7 Committee Structure: 1 Council Exco Finance & Staff Corporate Governance Investigating International Affairs Audit CIM Engineering SGB Education x Legal Matters Fees Dams Deans High Impact Committee 8 Committee Structure: 2 Council x Exco Eng Prog Accreditation Central Registration Eng Qual Evaluation Engineers Registration Techno Prog Accreditation Techno Qual Evaluation Technologist Registration Lift Insp Registration Technician Registration PAC: Aero PAC: Agric PAC: Chem PAC: Civil PAC: Elec PAC: Indus PAC: Mech CERTAC LMI Registration Cert Eng Registration PAC: Metall PAC: Mining 9 Protecting the Public Interest Through Registration • Identify and recognise the competency levels of members of the profession • Ensure acceptable educational standards • Ensure standards of practice in the profession; and • Control the professional conduct of members of the profession. Key Idea: The competence of engineering practitioners is essential to protecting the public interest Policy Document 1999 10 ECSA Stakeholder Relations HESA The Public End Users SAQA CHE Engineering Higher Education DHET DBE International Partners NRCSSABS DTI Africa DPW CBE DoL Voluntary Associations SETAs Registered Persons Engineering Practitioners Industry, Firms Sectors, … DMR DHS DoT DoC DAFF DE DPE D… 11 Categories of Registration Professionals • Professional Engineers • Professional Engineering Technologists • Professional Engineering Technicians • Professional Certificated Engineer Specified Categories • Lift Inspector • Lifting Machinery Inspector • Medical Equipment Maintainer 12 Candidate Categories of Registration Purpose: A candidate is training and gaining experience and may do engineering work under supervision of a professional Candidate Categories: – Candidate Engineers – Candidate Engineering Technologists – Candidate Engineering Technicians – Candidate Certificated Engineer Requirements: The applicant must satisfy educational outcomes by: – Holding an accredited qualification; or – Holding a qualification recognised under an international agreement; or – Is evaluated as substantially equivalent to an accredited qualification 13 Professional Development Model Practice Observe Code of Conduct and Maintain CPD Professional Registration Training And Experience Meet Standard For Professional Competency Candidate Registration Graduation Accredited Programme Meet Standard for Engineering Education Professional Registration Requirements For registration as a professional in a category, the applicant must (a) satisfy the relevant educational outcomes determined by council (b) demonstrate competence as measured against standards determined by the council Note: (a) is equivalent to the candidate requirements. After graduation, at least 3 years (usually more) of training and experience required for registration 15 How and When to Register “Assessment of Foreign Qualification Have foreign qualification assessed by ECSA. Apply for registration in the particular category. Professional Engineer BSc(Eng)/BEng Professional Eng Techno BTech Professional Eng Technician Three year National Diploma in engineering 16 Common Requirements All applicants(foreign applicants included) for registration in a professional category need to have: • Recognised academic qualification. • Trained to an acceptable level of competence for at least three years : – Focused and collaborative training (CE and employer / mentor). – Practical experience in a position of responsibility. • Display the attributes of a professional person. 17 Training Period • Not considered possible for a CE to acquire the required competencies and each to the required level in a shorter period than 3 years. • It generally takes longer than three years to acquire competencies. • Imperative that training programmes are well developed, managed and implemented. • Spending time on a particular element of training without a qualitative objective will not ensure achievement of the required level of competency for that category. 18 Registration Process • Registration process for all categories of registration basically the same. • Exception: Pr Eng category which has a compulsory professional review. • Other categories have the discretion to call applicants in for an interview. 19 All Categories • • The degree of responsibility of applicants and their personal and specific involvement with each project should be clear from the reports which accompany their applications. Essential that applicants consult the discipline specific guidelines for the particular discipline and Policy Statements for the different categories of registration (R2/1A, R2/1B and R2/1C), as it contains essential details on the type of information which ECSA requires for registration. 20 Foreign Applicants - Requirements • Application form for Professional Registration • Full report on practical post-qualification engineering experience • Project report highlighting applicant’s personal input into one to three projects in which applicant had a major input • At least two referee reports for engineers, three referee reports for technologists and technicians, of which at least one must be from a SA registered Pr Eng who observed the applicant in the work situation. 21 Requirements Cont… • It is advisable that a qualified foreign engineering practitioner live and work in South Africa for a period of eight to twelve months to become familiar with SA Codes of practice, health and safety legislation and general conditions of contract, before applying for professional registration. 22 Experience Appraisal and Professional Reviews Professional Review (by experienced peers): Professional Reviews as part of the registration process for Professional Engineer applications are only done in South Africa to demonstrate the candidate’s: • Professional, moral & ethical understanding. • Engineering judgment, decision-making and communication ability. • Technical knowledge and understanding. 23 Renewal of Registration Through CPD • Engineering Profession Act, 2000 requires Renewal of Registration. • Renewal of registration is linked to continuing professional development (CPD) over five year cycles. – 5 Credits per annum (25 over 5 year cycle) needed for renewal of registration. – CPD Credits awarded for • Developmental Activities (1credit required per year) • Work-based Activities • Individual Activities 24 Some Registration Statistics (as at 31 August 2010) • Professional Engineers: 14827 • Professional Engineering Technologists 3704 • Professional Engineering Technicians 3532 • Professional Certificated Engineers 1047 • Specified Categories 970 • Candidate Engineers: 5789 • Candidate Engineering Technologists 2071 • Candidate Engineering Technicians 2971 • Candidate Certificated Engineers Total 215 35126 ECSA’s Education Functions • Accreditation of qualifications – Engineering qualifications: • BEng-type: 8 universities offering 51 programmes – Technology Qualifications: • BTech: 10 providers offering 95 programmes • National Diploma: 11 providers offering 103 programmes • Evaluation of qualifications • Policy advice on engineering education Accreditation Criteria • Programme Type: Number of Credits, NQF Level • Programme design to provide the educational base for registration as in a category • Knowledge profile • 10 Exit Level Outcomes • Quality of teaching and learning • Resourcing and sustainability 27 Evaluation of Educational Qualifications • The primary methods of meeting the education requirements for registration with ECSA is: - Holding a qualification accredited by ECSA, for the relevant – category. - Holding a qualification recognised under an International – Education Agreement, namely Washington Accord, for Engineers; Sydney Accord for Technologists, and the Dublin Accord for Technicians. • Applicants that do not fall into neither of the above 2 categories, must have their qualifications evaluated for substantial equivalence to that of an accredited South African BSc(Eng)/BEng degree. 28 • The Evaluation Process: – Applicants are required to complete an assessment form and submit all requested supporting documentation of their qualification. – The assessment is conducted by the Engineering Programme Qualifications Evaluation SubCommittee (EP-QEC), in the case of an Engineer, and Technology Programme Qualifications Evaluation SubCommittee (TP-QEC), in the case of a Technologist or a Technician. 29 • The respective QEC may request that the applicant attend an interview, in order to ascertain further information on the qualification. • This process is conducted by volunteers of ECSA, and is largely dependant on their availability. • Once an assessment is completed, the applicant is advised as to the exact category of registration s/he is eligible to register for and may then apply. 30 Educational Accords International educational agreements provide for: – Mutual recognition – Benchmarking of programmes providing the educational foundation for practice in each category Washington Accord Professional Engineer Sydney Accord Professional Engineering Technologist Dublin Accord Professional Engineering Technician The Engineering Standards Generating Body Roles & Responsibilities – Developing generic engineering qualifications, – Ensuring that the standards developed are internationally comparable – Ensuring that standards conform to principles of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) – Ensuring that qualifications developed provide access into the profession and provide articulation and progression within the profession Regulation of Professional Conduct • ECSA is required by the Act to: – Have a code of professional conduct – Investigate complaints of misconduct against registered persons – Conduct tribunals – Alternate processes: guilty plea, …. – Impose sanctions on persons found guilty Code of Professional Conduct Rule of Conduct for Registered Persons requires observance of • The interests of humanity and environment • Accepted norms of professional conduct • Work only within limits of own competency • Honouring the standing of the profession • Improvement of skills • Encouraging excellence within the profession • Administrative issues are addressed 34 Disciplinary Process • Complaint received from public or initiated by ECSA • Preliminary investigation • Full investigation • Charge of misconduct – approved by council • Tribunal • Alternative processes: guilty plea • Report to Council • Sanction THANK YOU !!!!! 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