Best News for Indian Education: India included as a “permanent member” of Washington Accord.

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The Washington Accord is an International Agreement among bodies responsible for accrediting undergraduate engineering degree programs. It recognizes the substantial equivalency of programs accredited by those bodies and recommends that graduates of programs accredited by any of the signatory bodies be recognized by the other bodies as having met the academic requirements for entry to the practice of engineering in the area of their jurisdiction.

The membership of Washington Accord is an international recognition of the quality of undergraduate engineering education offered by the member country and is an avenue to bring it into the world class category. It encourages and facilitates the mobility of engineering graduates and professionals at international level.

(See more at: http://www.nbaind.org/En/1033-washington-accord.aspx#sthash.MxcmjHyO.dpuf)

India has been a provisional member of the WA for a few years now and there has been a concerted effort on part of the Ministry of HRD over several years towards the goal of securing a “permanent membership”.

Now that India has been granted the “permanent” membership, its a very good news for Indian Engineers seeking employment and migration world-wide.

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Published by Ravi Lochan Singh

Ravi Lochan Singh is the Managing Director of Global Reach, a company that has been representing leading Universities from around the world for 32+ years. An alumnus of India's The Doon School, Delhi's SRCC and thereafter having completed an MBA from Bond University, Australia; he founded the company in 1991. Ravi has been working with various international bodies across countries in the development of the self-regulatory structures for the industry. His role with AAERI (the one of its kind agent body promoted by the Australian Government Departments) has earned him recognition as a major stakeholder in the education export industry. His blogs on education topics has significant following and his comments on matters of importance pertaining to his sector can ruffle settled notions. The blog is his personal expression and mayn't be read as official statements of organisations that he is associated with.

7 Comments

  1. That’s a very good news. Previously, Engineers from India were required to submit CDRs for their skills assessment. I think the qualifications will be directly comparable now, therefore removing CDR requirements. For Australia, there are Washington Accord, Sydney Accord and Dublin Accord that are considered accredited qualifications for the purpose of skills assessment for migration.

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    1. Yes Jag. It’s fantastic news for Indian engineers seeking work permit or migration as they are likely to get assessed as engineers. It may take some time for systems to reflect the changes but nevertheless it’s good news.

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  2. Really it is a good news for Indians and now the migration will be more easy for Indian Engineers. This permanent membership is a needed one for Indians and finally we achieved it…Really great!!

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    1. It is good news but there is need for a some caution… It now appears that the Indian Minister for HRD got a bit over the top in claiming that all Engineers will now be at par globally. In reality, only the Tier 1 providers will be and there too some work is required in terms of the curriculum… I did a blog yesterday with the details… https://ravilochansingh.com/2014/06/15/indias-becoming-a-permanent-member-of-washington-accord-is-great-news-but-minister-irani-probably-misread-that-all-engineering-degrees-will-now-be-at-par-globally/

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  3. Dear Ravi,

    I was going through your blog on disadvantages of IB Board study while pursuing course in India. I would say that your research was subjective but informative and might give insight on any future decisions which my son would take. Then, I thought of going through your profile and seeing all the other posts which I breezed through and found interesting!
    However, I would like you to start a discussion or address some points on this particular case which I have.
    I have 13 years of experience in IT Industry with no formal graduation (I dropped out from Associate Membership Examination of AeSI). I however managed to work with some of the global IT companies (mainly Indian like Wipro, HCL) and lived in Australia for 6 years before returning to India. I did pursue education further by completing Graduate Diploma in Computing from RMIT. I did my skills assessment as well from ACS and received positive assessment as System Analyst. However, there is an issue with Skill Met Date and since I am not conjuring the requisite points, I am thinking of pursuing Masters with Advanced Credit from OUA/Swinburne.
    So, I would like you to address on few things,
    1. What are the options for students in India if they are not financially viable to pursue studies which can lead them to distinctively good jobs? (Like OUA, I doubt IGNOU degrees get recognized by Indian companies)?
    2. How much is it necessary to have a Bachelor Degree if you have passed higher qualification for Immigration and elsewhere apart from Australia to study?
    3. Though we boast of some of the finest teaching methods, we do not see any IB (Industry Based) learning neither our teachers believe in that concept. Do you agree to this and if yes what changes you can suggest? I feel TAFE education can be strengthen through ITI Colleges

    I would appreciate if you can take time to suggest your opinions as it would be quite helpful for many people who have done “In-between” studies..

    Thanks and regards,

    Shubhdeep

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    1. Open school and IGNOU are recognised in India but you are right that often considered a Plan B and therefore looked down in comparison to regular studies. A Bachelor Degree is important as an academic qualification since diplomas and vendor certifications tend to be focussed on certain areas within the subject and not the subject overall. The University experience is a lot more than mere academic study. You are right that we are far away from making our education focussed on careers and including greater role of industry based study… There are things changing but very gradually.

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