In 2009, I have written an article about the "Mis-Education of the Filipino Engineer". After more than a decade, I still believe that despite the changes in the Philippine Educational system, the quality of education in the Philippines is still not comparable to other countries even in the ASEAN region.
I am proud being a Filipino Engineer and I always be. Having been in the global job market for more than three (3) decades now spanning several countries including Australia, I feel uncomfortable that the Philippine Educational system is still not fully recognized by the Washington Accord unlike our other ASEAN neighbors such as Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
The Washington Accord is an international accreditation agreement for undergraduate professional engineering academic degrees between the bodies responsible for accreditation in its signatory countries. The Washington Accord recognizes that there is substantial equivalence of programs accredited by those signatories. Graduates of accredited programs in any of the signatory countries are recognized by the other signatory countries as having met the academic requirements for entry to the practice of engineering. Recognition of accredited programs is not retroactive but takes effect only from the date of admission of the country to signatory status. Until now, the admission of the Philippines in the Washington Accord is still provisional.
This is a predicament that I faced when I applied for a professional license in Queensland, Australia. I needed to undergo numerous re-validation of my school credentials to be able to get an equivalency in Australia. Only after more than six (6) months that I was able to get the green light. Within that six (6) months, I have countless sleepless nights fearing that I may not be able to get the professional license that I wanted. Luckily and with lots of prayers, I was able to get my Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland (RPEQ) registration in 2008.
The Philippine government should try to push that the Philippines will get full membership in the Washington Accord. This will help a lot Filipino Engineers in gaining better recognition in the global job market.