College Woes
The Philippines last month shut down three allegedly substandard maritime
training establishments. The move came as a result of the European Commission's
threat to "derecognise" all new certificates issued anywhere in the country.
The move has reportedly sparked protests where up to 13,000 students were only
told of the closure of the BS Marine Engineering and BS Marine Transport degree
courses at the Philippine Maritime Institute two weeks after they had enrolled.
As the rules stand, the commission has only the "nuclear option" of refusing to
recognise all new seafarers from what is by far the largest labour supply
country, and cannot single out training establishments case by case.
Although the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has consistently declined
to make its findings public, it is understood to recommend that recognition of
Filipino STCW certificates be withdrawn unless the issue is resolved.
Maritime academies in the Philippines reportedly turn out 280,000 graduates
every year. That is well in excess of the 229,000 said to be serving on ships
at any one time.
Seems that it really is time for both the Philippines to get its house in
order, but also for the Europeans to get their sleeves rolled up and help out.
This is only going to end in tears if not fixed properly. At the moment young
people who dream of going to sea are suffering, the safety of life at sea could
be under threat and if this plays out wrong the entire shipping industry could
lose its future manning supply.
These are dangerous and difficult times and it seems that all stakeholders
need to sit down, with all their cards on the table to find real solutions.
Pinpoint the bad schools, assist the students to relocate, close them down and
pour resources into rewarding the good schools and the best people. Supplement
this with a system of independent policing, and low and behold we could be
looking at solutions not threats and problems.
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