ABOUT TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION

 

TRAINING & CERTIFICATION (T&C) DEPARTMENT OF COREN 

At the 180^th Ordinary Council meeting of 7^th December, 2023, the Training and Certification (T&C) Department of COREN was approved and announced as one of the 4 technical departments in COREN, saddled with the responsibility of fulfilling the mandate of the implementation of all training and certification activities.  This is in line with COREN’s mandate to regulate and control the education, training and practice of Engineering in all aspects and ramifications.

Based on identified gaps in Knowledge, Skills, Competencies and Proficiencies, COREN identified the following needs/areas to train, certify, equip, empower and engage all interested Engineering Practitioners to carry out COREN regulatory activities in the 11 identified engineering sectors (Oil & Gas, Mining, Maritime, Tele-Communication, Power, Manufacturing, Aviation & Aerospace, Construction, Agro-Allied, Transportation and Biomedical) in all regions/states (28 states with 7 regions – North East in Gombe, South East in Enugu, North West in Kano, South West in Ibadan, North Central in Abuja, South South in Port-Harcourt and Lagos region as a standalone). The training and certification areas include but not limited to:

 

1. OBE TOT Workshop Training for University
2. OBE Workshop Training for Programme Evaluators (PEVs) for Resource Verification, Pre-Accreditation, Accreditation, Re- Accreditation and Post-Accreditation of engineering

• Training & Certification of Indexing Officers for the indexing of enrolled students in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs).

1. Certification of courses & trainers in NBTE’s approved National Skills Qualification (NSQ) and National Occupational Standards (NOS).
2. Training & Certification of Examiners for the quarterly COREN Engineering Professional Interview (EPI).
3. Training & Certification of Engineering Failures & Forensic (EF&F)

• Training & Certification of Expatriate Monitoring (EM)
• Training & Certification of Engineering Regulations Monitoring and Enforcement (ERM&E) Inspectors (in all the 11 Sectors).

1. Training & Certification of Codes and Standards (C&S) Developers (in all the 11 Sectors).
2. Training & Certification of Engineering Intelligence Surveillance Enforcement (EISE) Task Force.
3. Training & Certification of Engineering Intelligence Whistle (EIW)

 

Training Modules in most of these areas have been developed and approved. The first batch of training for Engineering Failures & Forensic (EF&F) Investigators is to commence in August 2025.

 

PROFESSIONAL PROFICIENCY DEVELOPMENT & CERTIFICATION (PPD&C) UNIT OF COREN

The Council of COREN on 12^th September, 2019 at its quarterly meeting, approved the commencement of Professional Proficiency Development and Certification (PPD&C) Unit of COREN to handle partnerships with local and international organisations on Competency Skills Development and Certification to improve the Professional Development in all engineering sectors. These certification areas have competency standards developed by industry experts in the various engineering fields represented.

This is in pursuant to the provisions of Section 1 Subsection (1) paragraphs (f) and (g) of Engineers (Registration, etc.) (Amendment) Act No. 3, 2018 which state thus:

(f) regulating industrial training schemes in engineering for the training of engineering practitioners and students;

(g) ensuring capacity building and monitoring local content development in the Nigerian engineering industry.

 

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE PPD&C UNIT

1. To develop national engineering certification competences through knowledge driven risk and safety evaluation.
2. To develop a proficiency base to harness engineering practitioners’ skills to create new job areas hitherto not captured, like integrity tests for Engineering infrastructure which helps to mitigate engineering failures in all aspects of engineering practice in Nigeria.

 

SCOPE OF RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Engage the Industry to define and regulate competency standards periodically for proficiency in specific engineering sectors.
2. Conduct certification examinations for candidates and accreditation of training institutions.
3. Create and maintain a mobile register of trained and certified professionals and geo-tagging of same on the mobile app for visibility to the public.

 

ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL CLEAN ENERGY SKILLS CERTIFICATION SCHEME

In line with the above, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) through the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) on Monday, 14^th October, 2019, for the implementation of the National Clean Energy Skills Certification in Nigeria.

Under this agreement, COREN, considering its mandate as an Engineering Regulatory Body and Skills Development Council, was entrusted to serve as the National Certification Body for the certification of skills in Clean Energy in Nigeria. The aim of this project is to establish a pool of locally-trained and certified professionals who would harness the opportunities in the growing renewable energy market in Nigeria. These professionals will become the pioneers to be admitted in the 5^th national register of ARTISANS being opened by COREN.

COREN ensures that adequate screening of the competency of professionals is carried out, qualified individuals are certified accordingly to pursue a career in the renewable energy sector in Nigeria, placed on the Renewable Energy/Energy Efficiency (RE/EE) mobile register and given wide publicity. This, COREN has been able to achieve overtime, by maintaining a standard comparable to what is seen in the developed countries, in clean energy skills certification. At least quarterly, COREN engages all stakeholders in the sector and two of such engagements have birthed the revalidation of the competency standards of the training and certification areas/domains in July 2024, with the industry fully represented.

Some experts from different organisations in the RE sector, as well as the RE/EE Alliance, who have years of experience and professional expertise were inaugurated into the Industry Advisory Committee (IAC). They provide oversight and advisory functions for the Certification Scheme.

Currently, COREN has twenty-one (21) Training Institutions as recognized and accredited partners, situated in various states of the country, providing training in RE/EE. The network of training partners is still expanding. Four (4) CBT test centres have been established in 4 strategic locations in the Federation, namely:

• Abuja
• Lagos
• Enugu
• Kano

The Nigerian Energy Support Programme – COREN’s development partner – is a 33 million Euro technical assistance programme, co-funded by the European Union and the German Government and is jointly implemented by the Federal Ministry of Power (FMP) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). It aims to promote investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency and rural electrification.

The Certification areas under this Clean Energy Certification Scheme are as thus:

• Mini-Grid Design – Focus on solar PV and micro-hydro
• Solar PV Installation
• Solar PV Installation Supervision
• Rural Hydropower Civil Engineering
• Energy Management
• Energy Audit

COREN developed a framework for the delivery of the certification scheme and determined the capacity requirement and technical support for initiating the scheme. The Certification Scheme was officially launched and kick-started in November 2021, and since then COREN has been delivering on this mandate. Several batches of the Certification Examination have been conducted successfully, with a few sponsored by corporate organisations.

On 16^th June, 2025, COREN signed an MoU with the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) to synergize efforts in the implementation of the RE/EE Certification Scheme.

SHELL ADVANCED TECHNICAL PROGRAMME FOR ENGINEERING GRADUATES AND ENGINEERS

The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) approached and signed an MoU with COREN in October 2020, on the training and certification of Engineers and Engineering graduates and providing hands-on experience in technical areas, covering all engineering disciplines, such as:

• Oil and Gas Refining Technology
• Rotating Equipment, Mechanical Static Equipment Design, Heat Transfer, Materials and Corrosion
• Civil, Offshore, Subsea, Pipeline Systems
• Instrumentation, Automation, Control, Modeling and Optimization, amongst others.

 

COREN through its PPD&C Unit, has the power to accredit training institutions in the 6 geo-political zones, under these and upcoming Skills Proficiency Certification areas. It is also saddled with the responsibilities of credentialing and certifying trained professionals to practice in their respective core proficiency areas.

In all, Engineering Practitioners are expected to earn mandatory CPD points/units as a pre-requisite for the renewal of their COREN annual practicing license. Points can be earned through different training & certification areas deployed by COREN, the annual COREN Engineering Assembly, etc.