Engineering Board of Kenya rejects Masinde Muliro University courses

The future of engineering students at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) remains bleak following the decision by the Engineering Board of Kenya (EBK) not to register the courses.

According to a report by EBK to the university, MMUST has failed to tailor its curriculum to suit the board’s requirements to register the courses.

The university also lacks enough engineering lecturers registered by the board.

For an engineering course to be registered, the regulatory body demands a university offering the programmes should have at least three registered thematic leaders who should lead the department as lead lecturers.

The regulatory body also demands that any lecturer in the engineering department should have at least a master's degree and should be registered by it or any other professional body it recognises.

The university has, however, dismissed the board’s decision not to register the courses saying some of them meet the demands.

Joseph Rotich, MMUST deputy vice chancellor in charge of Administration and Finance, said the university applied for registration in September last year after meeting the board’s demands.

“We submitted our records for registration last year. It is only last week that we have received a report from EBK that our engineering courses have not been registered,” said Prof Rotich.

“Our civil and structural engineering course meets all requirements but EBK has not registered it,” he added.

MMUST offers programmes in the department of civil and structural engineering, electrical and communication engineering and mechanical and industrial engineering.

DELAYED REPORTS

Rotich admitted some engineering courses like mechanical and electrical courses have issues that must be addressed first before accreditation.

He however said the university has put in place measures to ensure they register all courses before end of this year.

“We have few issues in some of our engineering courses but, as university management and engineering department, we are working hard to ensure we register all courses before the year ends,” he said.

Rotich said, currently, the engineering department is held up in meetings to prepare a report which they will submit to EBK to seek accreditation of the programmes.

He also blamed EBK for delaying to give the report on accreditation status of the university’s engineering courses.

“It is so sad for the university, students and parents. It has happened but as a university we are doing everything possible to ensure we correct the mess. EBK should have given us the report earlier to guide us on what to do,” he said.

The university is required to hire professional engineers who are registered by the board to be considered for registration and recognition.

“We have met some of the requirements raised by EBK,” Rotich said.