Adapting Engineering Education Curriculum for Global Competiveness in Developing Countries

Abstract

Engineering education in developing countries is faced with many challenges. One of the key engineering education issues is curriculum adaptability to the growing regional needs as the countries evolve through their developmental process. This is usually dictated by the national infrastructure program development plans. In most cases, the electrical engineering curriculum for example is usually centered on power construction given the national need and evolves to include controls and communications. The civil engineering curriculum equally revolves around structures and surveying. This paper examines how the transition from one area of concentration is made given the prevailing technological divide between the developing countries and the developed countries and proposes some solutions that can help alleviate the obstacles confronting the engineering education in these countries.