ECSA checks up on the Faculty of Engineering and Technology
ECSA checks up on the Faculty of Engineering and Technology
Rose Fumane Nthoroane
On Monday, 24 June a delegation from the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) visited the Faculty of Engineering and Technology at the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) for accreditation purposes.
The delegation received a warm welcome from the acting Vice-Chancellor and Principal: Professor Roy Dhurup, Professor Riana van der Bank, Acting DVC: Teaching, Learning & Student Support and Professor Maurice Ndege, the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology.
The delegation conducted a three-phase exercise from 24-26 June at the VUT’s Vanderbijlpark campus.
The overall purpose was to ensure that graduates would be able to practise in the field of engineering in South Africa. All engineering technicians, technologists and engineers should be registered with the ECSA. The Council came to check whether the VUTs’ programmes are aligned to the HEQSF.
The ECSA is a statutory body regulated under the Engineering Professions Act (Section 13) which gives it the power to conduct accreditations in the four-year term of council. An accreditation is a quality assurance process and should be done at least once in the four years.
The purpose of the visit was properly executed with only Civil Engineering Department receiving provisional accreditation. The Team Leader Mr Jones Moloisane will give a report to the Education Committee on their sitting of 22 October 2019 for deliberations and direction.
It is only after the meeting of the Education Committee that the final communication of approval/not approval will be communicated to VUT and the Faculty of Engineering & Technology.