GRADUATE ENGINEERS INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
The Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK) is a statutory body established under Section 3(1) of the Engineers Act, 2011. The Board is responsible for the registration of engineers and Engineering firms, regulation of engineering professional services, setting of standards, development and general practice of engineering.
One of the functions of the Board under the Engineers Act, 2011 section 7(1) (q) is to “Plan, arrange, coordinate and oversee continuing professional training and development and facilitate internship of graduate engineers.
The Engineers Board of Kenya has developed the Graduate Engineers Internship Program (GEIP) which is a structured internship program for graduate engineers that is designed to enable them acquire requisite hands-on skills and prepare them for professional practice.
The program will run for 24 months and the interns will be trained under professional engineers who are registered by the Board.
To ensure the success of the program, the Board is recruiting Mentors from the fraternity. The role of mentors in the implementation of the GEIP is critical. The importance of the mentors is derived from the fact that they are the ones who will work with the trainees, giving the trainees the necessary guidance and assistance in their professional development.
Securing leaders in various engineering disciplines is critical and getting their commitment is vital in imparting the required professional competences and professional attributes to the trainee engineers.
Some of the incentives that the Board will adopt to motivate providers, mentors and other partners: –
• Giving certificates of recognition.
• Inviting mentors and providers to participate in the Board organized activities.
• Award of Professional Development Units (PDU) to mentors. Determination of the number of hours should be based
on the achievements made by individual trainees, quality of the report of the trainee as well as the quality of the
mentor’s comments on the trainee’s Quarterly Reports.
• Organizing get-togethers for networking activities for providers, mentors and industry.
• Influencing the Government to give job opportunities to firms that undertake professional training of graduate
engineers.
• Annually publishing names of industry partners, providers, and mentors giving number of trainees (and their
disciplines); etc.
• Allowing industry partners (excluding consultants) to advertise their business in the Board’s website at subsidized
rates.
Interns will be receiving a stipend from the Board and hence, it is expected that mentors will not pay anything to the interns. It is expected that the Mentors will provide other resources that will enable the interns carry out their duties efficiently.
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