11 June 2015
Bill Sole, Industry Engagement Manager at Competenz, will represent New Zealand on a review panel set-up by the International Engineering Alliance to evaluate the Dublin Accord accreditation process of the Engineering Council UK (ECUK).
Signed in 2002, by national engineering organisations in the UK, Ireland, Canada and South Africa, the Dublin Accord is an agreement for the international recognition and regulation of qualifications for engineering technicians.
Since then, an additional four signatories have been added, including the US, Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
On our shores, the Dublin Accord covers the New Zealand Diploma in Engineering, Level 6 and New Zealand Diploma in Engineering Practice, Level 6 – the latter of which is currently offered by Competenz.
The agreement requires that each country be periodically reviewed by other signatory countries.
Later this year, Bill will join the review panel – Peter Roche (Ireland) and Prof Herman Vermaak (South Africa) – in London.
In the UK, ‘technician level’ education, which follows on from advanced apprenticeships, is undergoing significant change in response to reviews and consultation.
“This is an area of development for government agencies in the UK. And, it will be very interesting to see how they’re growing this part of the workforce,” says Bill.
In New Zealand, the Engineering E2E Programme steering group has proposed that government introduce cadetships – the equivalent of advanced apprenticeships in the UK. And, Bill is lobbying hard to ensure that this work is led by Industry Training Organisations (ITOs).
“We have an established model in the New Zealand Diploma in Engineering Practice, Level 6. And, we recently signed-up our first Level 6 ATNZ cadet,” says Bill. “The trip will provide a great opportunity to research what’s going on in this space in the UK.”
