Confirmation of PII/IABEE as a Washington Accord Signatory Member

At the annual International Engineering Alliance Meeting (IEAM) held on June 11-15, 2023 in Taichung, Taiwan, the Washington Accord (WA) unanimously affirmed the Full Signatory status for PII/IABEE with full membership rights and recognition of substantial equivalency that is valid retroactively starting from 2021. The Washington Accord is an international agreement between institutions that provide accreditation for undergraduate engineering study programs. With this affirmation, graduates produced by study programs accredited by IABEE starting in 2021 are recognized as “substantially equivalent” to graduates of study programs accredited by the other 22 WA member countries in meeting the requirements to prepare graduates to enter engineering practice.

IABEE (Indonesian Accreditation Board for Engineering Education) is a Permanent Body within the Indonesian Engineers Association (PII). The establishment of IABEE was initiated by the Directorate General of Higher Education of the Ministry of National Education, which then collaborated with the Government of Japan through bilateral cooperation with JICA in 2014. In this collaboration, JICA involved JABEE, which has become a WA Signatory, to assist IABEE in fulfilling all requirements for accreditation membership, including in the preparation of international-level accreditation criteria based on Graduate Learning Outcomes (Outcome-based Education/OBE).

  IABEE and mentor (JABEE)

IABEE accreditation is voluntary. Study programs that successfully achieve IABEE accreditation (General Accreditation/GA) can be equated with national accreditation with a "Superior" rating in accordance with the Regulation of the Minister of Education and Culture No. 5 of 2020. IABEE-accredited study programs that maintain their accreditation status are exempt from re-applying for mandatory national accreditation.
Before becoming a signatory, IABEE had become a WA member with Provisional Signatory status at the IEAM annual meeting in June 2019 in Hong Kong with the target of becoming a signatory in 2021. To become a signatory, provisional signatory members must undergo a physical verification review by a team from 3 countries formed by WA, to assess whether the accreditation evaluation system and implementation are deemed to meet WA requirements. The review team will assess the IABEE accreditation evaluation system and observe its implementation in 4 selected study programs.

The proposal for IABEE signatory status was submitted in 2020, and the WA approved the formation of a verification review team. However, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, all WA review activities, including the review in Indonesia, were postponed. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, WA amended its verification review regulations in 2021, combining online and physical reviews. The established WA Verification Review Team (Australia, New Zealand, and China) then conducted an online review from October 14, 2021, to February 10, 2022. Based on the first phase of the review, the verification team concluded in its report that the Graduate Competency Standards established by IABEE in its accreditation criteria were deemed to be equivalent.
substantial compliance with the WA criteria. Furthermore, the verification team also assessed that the IABEE accreditation evaluation system was robust and objective in ensuring study programs were capable of implementing an education system based on graduate learning outcomes. After reviewing the verification team's report, 21 WA signatory member countries unanimously agreed to grant signatory status to PII/IABEE at the IEAM online session on July 1, 2022.

The verification review was then conducted through a physical visit to Indonesia by a member of the verification review team (New Zealand) on January 23-26, 2023, to confirm and clarify the online review process for two of the four previously observed study programs. Based on the report from this physical visit, the WA closed session at IEAM on June 14, 2023, unanimously decided to affirm WA's Full Signatory status to IABEE with full membership rights and recognition of substantial equivalence, which is valid retroactively from 2021.

IEAM Taichung Delegation (Washington Accord, Sydney Accord and APEC.Eng Agreement)

IABEE began accrediting study programs in 2016. To date (2023), IABEE has internationally accredited 98 undergraduate engineering study programs from various public and private higher education institutions. The list of IABEE-accredited study programs is published on the IABEE website at: https://evaluation.iabee.or.id/#/accreditation/summary/search

IABEE accreditation aims to improve the quality of education through the implementation of a globally recognized Learning Outcomes-based (OBE) education system. The acceptance of PII/IABEE as a WA signatory is the first stepping stone in realizing this goal. IABEE expresses its highest appreciation and gratitude to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, JABEE as a mentor, JICA, and all parties who have contributed to supporting IABEE's achievements for the advancement of engineering education in Indonesia.

Anggota Washington Accord

Sumber : Arif Sasongko, S.T, M.T, Ph.D. (KK Elektronika)