By Aerol John Pateña/PNA
MANILA — The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) has partnered with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA) and maritime higher education institutions (MHEIs) to improve the maritime education system in the country and make it at par with international standards.
MARINA Officer-in-Charge Vice Admiral Narciso Vingson Jr., in a joint memorandum circular of the agency and CHED, said there is a need to monitor the maritime education programs offered by MHEIs to strengthen the competitiveness of Filipino seafarers.
“Our commitment to the STCW (Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping for Seafarers) Convention shall lead us to the full adoption and implementation of the STCW requirements in our maritime education and training system. As the country’s single maritime administration, it is our goal to implement a set of maritime education program standards and consolidate all academic and shipboard training requirements under a set of national policy, standards, and guidelines,” Vingson said in a statement on Wednesday.
The MARINA conducted its national consultation on the Joint CHED Memorandum-MARINA Circular on the Revised Policies, Standards, and Guidelines for the Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation (BSMT) and Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering (BSMarE) programs last January 15.
The consultation was aimed at gathering inputs from various stakeholders in maritime education on revisions of policies, standards and guidelines in accordance with the STCW Convention 1978, as amended. The convention sets the minimum basic requirements on training, certification and watchkeeping for seafarers on an international level.
Among the issues discussed at the national public hearing were the BSMT and BSMarE program specifications, standards of competence, assessment, and conferment of the said degrees; clarifications on the curriculum; course specifications; required facilities, and equipment; research and extension; quality standards system; admission and retention; compliance of MHEIs, and; miscellaneous provisions, among others.
The results of the consultation were discussed by the Technical Panel for Maritime Education (TPME), for recommendation to the commission en banc of CHED.
The improvements on the revised policies, standards, and guidelines for the Bachelor BSMT and BSMarE programs are scheduled to be forwarded to MHEIs in December 2019 and for full implementation in 2020, with the PMMA as lead implementer.
The revisions on the programs are in compliance with Executive Order 63 which was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte, mandating the MARINA to be the single maritime agency that will be in charge of the implementation of the STCW Convention.
This will ensure seamless administration of maritime education programs and promote coordination among agencies such as the CHED, Department of Health and Philippine Coast Guard.
The MARINA has revised seven of its circulars to harmonize with the SCTW Convention and upgraded its training standards with the approval of the refresher course in advanced firefighting, the four mandatory training courses on passenger ships, and the electrotechnical officer’s course.
