KUALA LUMPUR – It could be a long and rocky road to get registered as a graduate engineer (GE) with the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) if students plan to embark on three-year undergraduate programmes.
As BEM’s current top-up policy ends in December, graduates of local Bachelor in Engineering (B.Eng.) and Bachelor of Engineering Science (B.Sc.Eng.) programmes will be required to take a special two-year top-up from designated local universities to fulfil the requirements for GE registration.
While BEM has yet to release details on the new policy, it will be implemented between January 1 next year and December 31, 2023.
In a statement, the board said it has decided that BEM’s graduate assessment programme (GAP) will be used only for topping up unrecognised four-year programmes post-2024.
A BEM spokesman told The Vibes that the body has, to date, continued to give accreditation only to four-year programmes, with the exception of a period of two intakes in the late 1990s, when three-year programmes were accredited.
“The purpose of accreditation is to ensure that only graduates of programmes accredited by BEM can enter the engineering profession. It is illegal to practise engineering without being registered with BEM.
“In Malaysia, the recognition of the three-year engineering qualification ceased in 2000, with only the Masters in Engineering (M.Eng.) recognised for the purpose of registering as a GE to legally practise in the engineering field.
“No three-year programmes have been recognised from 2000.”
The Vibes recently received complaints from readers about BEM’s policies.
The BEM spokesman said in 2009, the body became a signatory of the Washington Accord, the substantial equivalency agreement for Standard of Engineering programmes.
“The Washington Accord specifies a minimum of four years of tertiary engineering education.”
She said BEM’s top-up policy for unrecognised three-year engineering programmes is meant for those conducted by Malaysia’s tertiary institutions and excludes graduates from the United Kingdom, but cautioned that it may be extended to foreign degrees after BEM studies the matter further.
“BEM has continued to allow graduates with B.Eng. from the UK to top up with a master’s programme in the related engineering field to register as a GE.
“As for the three-year programmes conducted in the UK, BEM has not made any decision on the topping-up requirements, but is treading towards a single standard.”
MQA accreditation v BEM nod
Other accreditation issues are linked to the Malaysian Qualification Agency’s (MQA) recognition of three-year engineering programmes that are deemed to meet “academic” requirements.
The BEM spokesman said efforts have been made to get some local tertiary institutions to provide four-year programmes, but without success.
“MQA continues to accredit three-year programmes – home-grown or twinning or franchised or offshore campus – and deems them as meeting the ‘academic’ requirement but not for professional practice, and graduates are not able to register with BEM.
“This creates a misunderstanding that both three-year MQA-accredited programmes and four-year BEM-accredited programmes are of the same standing academically, when they are not.
“To mitigate the transition to a four-year programme, BEM has allowed graduates of three-year programmes to undertake MSc by coursework in the related engineering fields.”
The Vibes has learnt that BEM’s GAP is designed as a 60-credit programme, and usually requires two years to complete.
“It also allows BEM to make an informed decision as to the knowledge profile of the candidate applying to register as a GE,” said the spokesman.
“As far as BEM is concerned, the three-year pathway has been given enough time to transit to four-year programmes.”
BEM also has its own accreditation body, created in 2000, known as the Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC).
EAC comprises representatives from BEM, the Institute of Engineers Malaysia, MQA and Public Service Department. – The Vibes, October 1, 2021
