A lucrative export - engineering education: down under

Abstract

[Abstract]: Education has become an Australian lucrative export. It is therefore necessary to write this paper to tell readers more about this export. A lot of literature has been found to describe education in primary and secondary education in Australia but only one about engineering education up to first degree level is available and it was published in 1990, i.e. pre-Dawkin era in higher education. This paper mentions the programs available for year 10 school leavers to professional engineers holding master’s degrees; it starts with Technical and Further Education (TAFE) colleges, followed by the newly formed Australian Technical Colleges. Universities were lastly mentioned and the description was divided into three sections of first degree, master’s degree and doctorate degree. It appears that Australian Technical Colleges would likely be absorbed into the TAFE system by the actions taken by present the government. The future education and training of professional engineers are likely to end up with the 3+2 year bachelor-master model. Professional engineering doctorate will likely become widely available to future professional engineers but Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program will still be there.