President of the Order of Engineers criticizes the mushrooming of engineering schools

The President of the Order of Engineers in Beirut, Khaled Shehab, criticized the phenomenon of mushrooming of engineering schools that “replicate programs of reputable foreign universities and colleges and deliver indefinite numbers of graduates”. Shehab’s statement came during the gala dinner in honor of the media to mark the launch of the Archmarathon Award for Arab and Mediterranean countries which was organized in Beirut on October 8-10. He clarified that such and unchecked trend has negative impact on the quality of education. “These institutions contribute to increasing the numbers of unqualified graduates and therefore undermine the value of the local engineering diploma widely acknowledged for its adeptness in challenging the world’s most impressive engineering projects”. Shehab also pointed out to the presence of some 60 thousand members in the Federation of Lebanese Engineers, which combines both the Orders of Beirut and Tripoli. “This number of graduates is not exceptional high if only members could find prospects of work in the local, Arab and international job markets,” Shehab said, adding that 3000 graduates are in excess every year, while there is a shortage in other related specialisations. This he noted, makes the Lebanese economy a hostage to foreign, mostly unskilled, workforce, and encourages the flight of educated youth. (An Nahar, September 30, 2015)