THOMASIANS recorded a lackluster performance in the recent mechanical and electrical engineering licensure exams, posting 71.43 percent and 48.44 percent passing rates, respectively.
Last year, 51 of the 60 Thomasian examinees or 85 percent passed the mechanical engineering board exam, making the University the second top-performing school in the 26 to 85 examinees category. This year, only 50 of the 70 who took the exam passed.
This year’s national passing rate was 66.78 percent, higher than last year’s 60.47 percent.
In the electrical engineering licensure test, only 31 of the 64 examinees from UST passed, lower than last year’s 58 percent, when 34 of 59 examinees passed.
The national passing rate, meanwhile, dropped to 33.99 percent, lower than last year’s 42.14 percent.
No Thomasian entered the Top 10 for the mechanical and electrical licensure exams.
In the Registered Master Electricians exam, the University posted better results with a 100-percent passing rate as all six who took the exam passed. Last year, none of the two examinees made the cut.
Faculty of Engineering Dean Josefin de Alban Jr. said he was taking full responsibility for the low results of the exam despite assuming the post only in November last year.
“The past years, we experienced the downtrend in the results of the board exams for electrical engineering,” De Alban said. “We don’t like to have any other reason. They are just really low.”
He also noted that the passing rate of electrical engineering started to drop since 2003.
Industrial engineering
Aside from the upcoming board exams for civil, chemical and electronics engineering, De Alban is also preparing for a certification exam for industrial engineers (IE).
“The exam given by the Philippine Institute of Industrial Engineers, although it is a privately given exam, has the same prestige, even if it is not given by PRC,” De Alban said.
Since there is no state-regulated exam for IE, De Alban said an association of industrial engineers is coming up with a certification exam, a scheme also being done for computer science, information technology, and information system graduates. Justinne Chynna V. Garcia
