New Delhi: In a major development that will enable global recognition of Indian degrees and increase the mobility of engineers to the USA and other countries, India on Friday became a permanent member of the Washington Accord.
India has has been a provisional member of Washington Accord since 2007 and has been, working for several years to become a permanent member.
A statement issued by the Union HRD ministry said that the breakthrough came at a meeting of the International Engineering Alliance in Wellington, New Zealand, on Friday morning where the members voted to induct India as a permanent member of the select group. The accord requires that me-mber nations set up suitable accreditation standards which would ens-ure a minimum quality of attainment for their engineering graduates.
Union HRD minister Smriti Irani said that the development will “ensure that highest quality assurance standards are implemented in our technical and engineering programmes to provide global mobility to our engineering graduates.”
In a statement issued on Friday, Ms Irani said, “Degrees which have been so accredited will substantially enhance employment opportunities of Indian graduates around the world.”
Former Union HRD minister M.M. Pallam Raju also congratulated the ministry and said that membership of the Washington Accord would be a good facilitator as it would give greater flexibility to Indian students and provide recognition to their degrees. “Congratulations to the ministry. After a seven-year effort, India has gained permanent membership of the Washin-gton Accord!,” he tweeted.
Now, degrees awarded by institutions accredited by the National Board of Accreditation would be recognised by all Washington Accord member nations, he said.
The Accord was signed in 1989 as an internatio-nal agreement among bodies responsible for accrediting engineering degree programmes. It has 17 countries as signatories.
