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THE COMMON ROOM by George Wilmot

19th July 1968, Page 72
19th July 1968
Page 72
Page 72, 19th July 1968 — THE COMMON ROOM by George Wilmot
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

The I RTE plans a staircase

FORMED in 1945 to cater specifically for the needs of the fleet engineer, the Institute of Road Transport Engineers has always shown no fear of innovation. Starting with no precedents, the Institute was founded to represent the needs of this section of the industry. Gradually an examination system evolved with the setting up of Sections A and B which are entirely concerned with engineering aspects. This was no easy task in that new specific examination standards were introduced for the first time in . an industry which had previously relied on practical experience.

Appointment to the Associate Membership grade has become a combination of examination prowess in Schemes A and B combined with length of service and degree of responsibility in a fleet engineering post. Indeed, practical experience is regarded as a compulsory requisite to admission to any of the Institute's grades.

In recent years there has been a growing feeling in the Institute that the examination system ought to reach out much further. There is a strongly held view that the fleet engineer is not receiving his due since so few have graduated to the higher ranks of transport management. Thus, the Institute has set out along the long and difficult road of providing a transport management section in its examinations. This had become Scheme C, the first part being now in operation; by 1970 the second part will be fully formulated and it is hoped to bring a third section into being, perhaps two years later.

Reflecting a very different pattern of thought in comparison to the other transport institutes, the IRTE envisages its examination schemes as a succession of steps leading perhaps eventually to the obtaining of a degree in mechanical engineering. The degree level now gives the additional accolade of a Chartered Engineer (C. Eng.), made possible by the recent combination of the major engineering organizations into the Council of Engineering Institutions (CEO. The CE1 is also anxious to create a lower award of a Tech. Eng. and there are hopes, on the road transport engineering side, that this can be given as on the successful completion of both Sections A and B of the IRTE examination.

The type of degree, from which a candidate at the top of the IRTE staircase could aspire, might be a part-time course under the umbrella of the Council for National Academic Awards, where study usually takes place in local technical colleges. Alternatively, the newer universities formed from Colleges of Advanced Technology like Salford and Strathclyde have flexibility in their admission schemes which could easily be extended to include all the parts of the IRTE examination. There is another fascinating alternative—the Open University (formerly called "The University of the Air") is fast maturing its plans. For their professional-type degrees the system of "credits" is envisaged which can exempt candidates from parts of the course. Obviously, final completion of the IRTE staircase would result in a great many "credits" towards this new and challenging engineering degree.

A further aspect of this staircase is the proposals for grades in the transport manager's licence which the IRTE has already submitted for consideration. Keeping firmly to engineering qualifications, the IRTE has fitted all its suggested grades (apart from the initial grade intended primarily for the owner-driver) into various stages of its examination scheme.

I have always been a great believer in providing steps in an examination system which can be fully climbed over a long period. The climbing can be as far as an individual would wish to ascend, but there should always be an opportunity open to those who want to go on and scale new heights.

The IRTE, however, faces special problems in constructing the final stages of Section C. Its thinking on this scheme of study includes many important aspects of wide application which I will consider next week.

Mr. Wilmot is Senior Lecturer in Transport Studies, University of London.


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