ISLAMABAD: The National Technology Council (NTC) has moved forward towards attaining provisional signatory status of the Sydney Accord.

The accord is an international mutual recognition agreement for qualifications in the field of engineering technology, and its members are called signatories, says a press release issued by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) on Tuesday.

An officer of the HEC said once Pakistan became a member of the Sydney Accord, Pakistani technicians would be able to work anywhere in the member countries without undergoing any tests.

Meanwhile, HEC officials said the commission had been working to get the act of the NTC approved from parliament.`We have already moved the proposed act to the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training for onward submission in the parliament, an HEC officer said.

Talking about the Sydney Accord, he said efforts were underway to become a signatory to the accord and a meeting in this regard was held between stakeholders on Tuesday.

`Things are moving in the right direction and hopefully in the coming months we will become members of the Sydney Accord,` he said.

Meanwhile, the press release said to apply for signatory status of the Sydney Accord, aspiring countries must have two mentors recognised by the Sydney Accord who help in achieving provisionalsignatory status.

For this purpose, the NTC is working with Malaysia and New Zealand. New Zealand has nominated Managing Director, Vintage Lane ConsultingLimited, NZ, Dr Paul Wilson as a mentor while Malaysia has yet to decide.

The press release said in this connection, an online meeting was organised, which was attended by NTC Chairman Engr Imtiaz H. Gilani, General Manager, Global Engineering, New Zealand, Bret Williams,mentor Dr Paul Wilson, Director General, Quality Assurance Agency, HEC, Nasir Shah and Assistant Director NTC Fahd Amin.

The NTC chairman thanked Bret Williams and Paul Wilson for agreeing to help the NTC achieve the provisional signatory status. He explained that the NTC was a subsidiary of the HEC, having full administrative, financial and academic powers, with the HEC chairman as its controlling authority.

This autonomy is a fundamental requirement to attain the signatory status.

The NTC chairman said: `Be coming a signatory to the Sydney Accord will be acrucial step for the future of Pakistani engineering technology graduates.

`We at the NTC are thankful to all stakeholders, and with the continued support of the HEC, we are hopeful to achieve the signatory status of the Sydney Accord,` he added.

As part of the mentoring exercise, the mentor must physically be involved in one or two accreditation visits conducted by the NTC. September 2024 has been tentatively decided as a suitable time for the visit of Paul Wilson.

The press release said during the discussion, many queries were raised regarding procedures, delineation of the HEC and NTC responsibilities as regulators to avoid duplication, frequency of regulatory visits etc.

During the meeting, Mr Gilani, Nasir Shah and Fahd Amin clarified issues to the complete satisfaction of Bret Williams and Paul Wilson.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2024