Engineering in Africa, as we have recently reported, is struggling to produce jobs for engineers in industries like the construction industry. A study in 2013 by the Royal Academy of Engineering found that Africa desperately needed engineers with skills and experience. In the study under a heading named ‘The scale and nature of capacity needs,’ the academy spoke about the lack of skilled individuals in Africa proving that “there are insufficient numbers of engineers graduating to meet demand in some sub-Saharan African countries”.
According to media sources in Kenya, the problem still persists today. four out of ten students are studying degree programmes that are not accredited by the Engineering Board of Kenya (EBK). The Kenya Education Network researched the 2014/15 academic year publishing their findings in a document called The Engineering Baseline Survey. They found that the EBK only recognises 6 out of the 12 universities that offer courses for engineers.
The report also claims that 54 undergraduate engineering programmes are available. Out of those 54, twenty-six of the programmes were not recognised.
Meoli Kashorda, one of the team members of the Kenya Education Network told The Star, it takes two years for an engineering graduate to get a job in Kenya and that no student should be allowed into programmes that aren’t accredited.
The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) CEO, Manglin Pillay, however, says there is no shortage of engineers in South Africa as a whole. “It’s not that there is a shortage of engineers in the country. There’s a shortage of engineers in the public sector,” he said. Pillay further said that “lack of training opportunities, low salaries and political interference” are discouraging engineers to desire to obtain a degree in engineering.
