IESL becomes a Washington Accord signatory:

Lanka engineers globally recognised

Today the world is amazed as to how Sri Lanka's ancestors built huge reservoirs such as Parakrama Samudraya and how the country put together a flawless irrigation network which helped the country to be self sufficient in agriculture. Even to date it is a mystery as to how our ancestors built huge castles and erected towering statues.

The self sufficient lifestyle backed by the amazing engineering skills were forcefully made to rot by the colonial rulers who wanted to suppress our self sufficient lifestyle and make the country dependent on exports provided by them.

With the mammoth development that is taking place in Sri Lanka the demand for local engineers has once again emerged in a big way and the lost engineering skills have once again being reincarnated.

This effort has enabled the Sri Lanka engineers to once again get their due place in the world arena with the institute of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL) being recognised as a Washington Accord Signatory. Sri Lanka is the only South Asian nation to get this global accolade.

An official from IESL said that this is international recognition which would place Sri Lanka engineers on par with engineers of developed countries.

Australia, Canada, Ireland, United States of America, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Turkey were the 15 Washington Accord Signatory countries up to June 13, 2014.

This decision was arrived at after a rigorous evaluation of the IESL accreditation procedures and the standards of the four year B.Sc. Eng. degree programs accredited by IESL, by a team of experts from the Washington Accord Signatory countries during the past four years, said President of the IESL, Eng. Shavindranath Fernando.

The Washington Accord model has become the international gold standard for mutual recognition of engineering education. For 25 years the Washington Accord has provided a mechanism for mutual recognition of engineering graduates of accredited programs leading to become Professional/ Chartered Engineers among its signatories. The Washington Accord has also set the foundation and standards for graduate attributes and accreditation of programs and defines the educational basis for the International Professional Engineers Agreement.

The local engineering graduates will be internationally recognised in these 15 countries as holders of engineering qualifications substantially equivalent to four year engineering programs accredited by the accrediting bodies of their own countries, and recognised as having met the academic requirements for entry to the practice of engineering in those countries as well. "Thus, our engineers with IESL accredited programs will have the benefit of being recognised among the developed nations as those who can enter the globally connected workplace."

This accolade would also help Sri Lanka to gain more foreign students to come and study in Sri Lanka, helping to gain addition foreign exchange while local engineers who wish to go for higher studies in the world can get that same international accredit locally once again helping to save foreign exchange."

"Thus IESL now being a signatory to the internationally accepted Washington Accord, the engineering degree programs that it accredits will receive global recognition. The direct beneficiaries of this would be the graduates of these IESL accredited degrees and the employers who employ such graduates. The academic staff and the institutions conducting such study programs will also gain international recognition."

The IESL is also a full member of the 'International Professional Engineers Agreement' (IPEA), formerly known as the Engineers Mobility Forum (EMF). The IESL was admitted to EMF as a full member in 2007 and thereby got the privilege to award the International Professional Engineer (Int. P. Eng.) qualification to the engineers with accredited engineering programs and more than seven years of responsible experience after graduation.

The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL) founded in 1906 was incorporated by an Act Parliament in 1968. IESL is the apex professional engineering body in Sri Lanka, which, in accordance with the objects set out in its Act, is obliged to promote and advance the science and practice of engineering in Sri Lanka.

Being a Washington Accord Signatory,the four year full time Engineering Degrees conducted within its jurisdiction (Sri Lanka) and which are accredited by IESL will be mutually recognised by the other Washington Accord countries as meeting the academic requirements for entry to the practice of engineering in any of their countries. At present most of the B. Sc. Eng. Degree programs of the Peradeniya, Moratuwa and Ruhuna Universities have been accredited by the IESL.