right’ concept of ‘democracy in education’ as
against the old belief in ‘elitism in education’
(that breeds win-lose exclusiveness trade).
Outcome Based Education and KSA:
Democracy in education need not necessarily be
inferior to elitism in education. This is especially
so when an Outcome Based Education (OBE)
[with measurable objectives and outcomes] is
adopted to attain Bloom’s Taxonomy of KSA
(learning) domains in a triangulated Quality
based System Framework which aims to
produce wholesome graduates motivated/
inspired to pursue ‘self directed and life long
learning’ with targeted attributes. [e.g., for WA,
12 attributes have been determined]. These
should be coupled to CQI and OFI to ensure ‘the
bar can be raised - incrementally’ to be in tune
with the demands of the prevailing state of the
art for SET services thus remaining relevant.
●●
Then there are Repair, Overhaul & Maintenance
Services:
●●
SET professional services need not necessary
be for ‘design and construct only’ – they are
also/often employed for Repair, Overhaul and
Maintenance (ROM) services; to keep assets
at optimum condition for safe and efficient
performance.
Summary and Conclusion:
●●
In summary: the three accords under IEA form
the accreditation benchmarks for ESPs of
an engineering team trained to perform SET
Professional Services: Engineering Services
(CPC 8672) and Integrated Engineering
Services (CPC 8673); together with a third set
of services as in: Construction & Engineering
Services (CPC 511 to 518). These three sets of
SET services are necessary for various other
SET sectors such as; Communication Services,
Environmental Services, Transportation
Services, Energy generation and distribution
services, etc.
●●
The three accords are for Trade in Services.
Trade, especially free trade must be inclusive
instead of exclusive. Therefore any MRA (as
part of National Treatment for an FTA) being
framed (or already framed) should cover
all members of the engineering team who
collectively go by the term ‘ESP’.
‟
Engineers realised when
engineering services are
traded; the qualification
and experience of the
natural person, the
engineer, providing the
services matter.
ACRONYMS
AEC
ASEAN Economic Community
CBTS
Cross Border Trade in Services
CQI
Continuous Quality Improvement
DA
Dublin Accord
ESP
Engineering Services Professional
FTA
Free Trade Agreement
GATS
General Agreement on Trade in Services.
GATT
General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade
IEA
International Engineering Alliance/
Agreements.
IHL
Institutions of Higher Learning
KSA
Knowledge, Skill, Attitudes
MPFTA
Malaysia-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement
OBE
Outcome Based Education
OFI
Opportunity for Improvement
PRA
Profession R VwV