- The government is gambling with engineering education
The government wants to remove the rules for what an engineering education is and should contain. The Norwegian Association of Engineers and Technologists reacts strongly.
"This destroys the profession and engineering expertise in the future," says NITO President Kjetil Lein.
The framework plan is a regulation that determines which subjects an engineering education must contain. Without the framework plan, universities and university colleges can decide for themselves what constitutes an engineering education. The universities and university colleges themselves believe that the framework plan is an important management tool.
On 20 October, the government sent a consultation on discontinuing the framework plan for engineering education. Lein is concerned that the government will remove the requirements for engineering education, and that this will be at the expense of mathematics and physics.
"The requirements for a common academic foundation that brings engineers together will disappear. Then the engineering programmes will lose their stamp of quality and control. Politicians are disclaiming responsibility for the technology education of the future, and that is unsustainable.
Today, an engineering education must include, among other things:
- 30 credits of mathematics, engineering systems thinking and an introduction to engineering professional practice and working methods.
- 50–70 credits with technical subjects, natural sciences and social sciences.
- 50-70 credits in technical specialization and 20-30 credits with elective subjects.
"The framework plan sets a number of requirements for content and learning outcomes that the government wants to abolish. It is inconceivable that the government would remove the national requirements for nursing or teacher education in this way," he adds.
Major consequences for society
The engineers build and operate the infrastructure in society, such as clean water and power grids.
"Without a framework plan, employers do not know what they will get when they hire an engineer. We cannot gamble with the skills of the engineers of the future," says NITO President Kjetil Lein.
The government will invest in technology and will provide NOK 120 million to engineering programmes to strengthen recruitment.
- It is strange that they want to remove all rules for the same educations at the same time. It is to give with one hand and resign with the other.
The framework plan is the national rules for engineering education. Among other things, it sets requirements for knowledge in mathematics, physics and technology. The framework plan covers, among other things, civil engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and computer engineering education. Around 12,000 students are affected by the framework plan.
