The Independent Institute of Education (The IIE), one of South Africa’s leading private higher education institutions and a division of JSE-listed ADvTECH, has received full accreditation from the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) for the degree courses it provides in engineering. It is the first private higher education provider in the country to be recognised in this manner by ECSA, the professional authority.
All engineering degrees offered in South Africa must be approved by ECSA. The IIE has been offering ECSA endorsed Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) degrees since 2018. During the initial development stages and in the first years of the IIE’s offering these degrees, ECSA conducted site visits and reviews of the degrees, to ensure that the qualifications adhere to best practice and to national and international standards for engineering.
The IIE has now been awarded full accreditation from ECSA for its BEng Degrees in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and in Mechanical Engineering.
“This is a significant milestone for The IIE as it becomes the first private higher education institution in Africa to receive full accreditation for its engineering degrees under the international Washington Accord,” says Louise Wiseman, Managing Director of The IIE’s Varsity College, Vega and IIE MSA.
Private higher education institutions in South Africa may not, at present, call themselves private universities due to historical criteria. However, the Department of Higher Education and Training is in the process of finalising criteria for institutions with the aim of ensuring that qualifying private higher education institutions may rightly be recognised as private universities (as opposed to state funded public universities).
“This recognition from ECSA re-affirms that The IIE is uniquely positioned in the private sector to provide the highest quality of academic excellence and ensure our qualifications and students are deservedly recognised – in line with their peers in public universities – in the industry and the workplace,” Wiseman says.
The Independent Institute of Education (Pty) Ltd ("The IIE"), a division of JSE-listed ADvTECH, is the largest private higher education institution in South Africa. It operates across 24 sites and via distance learning, offering 135 registered and accredited higher education programmes from Higher Certificate to Doctorate level on its Varsity College, Vega, MSA, Rosebank College and HSM campuses.
For more information visit: www.iie.ac.za/
