GRADUATE SURVEYORS FROM NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES REQUIRE A THOROUGH EXPOSURE TO PRACTICAL TRAINING

GRADUATE SURVEYORS FROM NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES REQUIRE A THOROUGH EXPOSURE TO PRACTICAL TRAINING IN ORDER TO EFFECTIVELY PLAY THEIR DESIRED PROFESSIONAL ROLE IN NATIONAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Surveyors are geo-information experts. According to International Federation of Surveyors (FIG), “a surveyor is a professional person with the academic qualifications and technical expertise” to carry out surveying and geomatics activities. The academic qualifications are obtained from universities and other academic institutions, while the technical expertise can only be attained through practical experience.

By its nature, surveying is a field profession that employs applied sciences in its activities. A profession for people with brain and brawn, surveying commands both theoretical knowledge and practical applications of science in its operations. The skills needed to function well as a surveyor can only be acquired through hand-on experiences in the field. The universities training programmes are adequate for the theoretical knowledge base needed by professional surveyors but do not provide the real-world experiences for practical expertise.

In recognition of this fact, the act establishing Surveyors Council of Nigeria (SURCON) mandated the council to, among other functions, “determine what standards of knowledge and skill are to be attained by persons seeking to become registered as members of the profession of surveying, and reviewing those standards from time to time as circumstances may require.”

The act further requires that a person seeking to become a surveyor, after obtaining required academic qualifications, shall be able to show that he or she has been under pupilage for a minimum of two years acquiring practical training under a surveyor in an approved office. At the end of the period of two years, the pupil surveyor is required to submit five field projects in which he or she personally participated. In addition, the pupil surveyor shall sit for an examination and defend the projects before a panel of professional surveyors. The pupil surveyor must pass the examination and be able to convince the panel that he or she has acquired enough practical skills to be considered for registration as a surveyor.

Over the years, the number of pupil surveyors who fail the SURCON examination shows that many graduate surveyors have not gained enough practical skills needed to become professional surveyors. Thus, the profession has a problem in its hands.

Some solutions have been proposed by professional surveyors. One such solution is the establishment of a College of Surveying, a type of Law School for graduate lawyers. Graduate surveyors shall be required, upon graduation, to attend the college for a period of one year, during which they shall be exposed to practical training.

All the above – minimum of two years pupilage, five practical projects to be submitted to SURCON, professional examinations and the proposed College of Surveying – are measures to expose graduate surveyors to practical training in order to help them effectively play their professional roles in national growth and development.

Thus, it is generally agreed that graduate surveyors must attain acceptable level of knowledge and skill before they can become professionals. This is more so because of the importance of surveying to national development.

Surveying has been rightly described as bedrock of development. Surveying provides maps and map products which are needed for locating, exploring and management of natural resources, social-economic planning, construction and management of engineering structures and infrastructures. Without surveying and mapping, planning will not be suitable, infrastructures will not be durable, and development will not be sustainable. Anyone who must be a professional surveyor must therefore attain acceptable standards of knowledge and skill through both theoretical training and practical experience.

It is therefore imperative that graduate surveyors be thoroughly exposed to practical training in order to effectively play their desired professional role in national growth and development. In order to make this a reality, it is recommended that, in addition to SURCON examinations and project submission, the proposed College of Surveying be established. The college experience shall add to the practical training that graduate surveyors need to attain the standards of knowledge and skill to become professional surveyors.

DISCLAIMER: This material is only an attempt to answer an examination question, though written from a background of solid knowledge and practical experience in Surveying and Geoinformatics. It has not gone through peer review. Therefore, all views and opinions expressed therein remain the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent that of any institution.  Feedback on corrections and constructive criticisms are welcome. Thank you.