Maritime schools back closure of non-compliant institutions
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
MANILA -- Two of the country's largest association of maritime schools and
training centers have thrown their support to the intensified crackdown on
erring maritime institutions by the Commission on Higher Education (Ched).
In a joint manifesto, the Philippine Association of Maritime Training Centers
Incorporated (PAMTCI) and the Philippine Association of Maritime Institutions
(Pami) praised the commission's effort to upgrade the quality of learning
offered by maritime schools, saying that "ensuring high quality education and
training for personnel with emphasis on safety who man the world's foreign flag
vessels becomes even more imperative."
Signed by PAMTCI president Engineer Alfredo Haboc and his counterpart at Pami,
Benito Chiongbian, the statement added that maintaining the country's
competitive edge in the maritime industry needs a well-developed plan not only
on how to educate prospective Filipino seafarers but also getting rid of those
who refused to follow local and international regulations.
"Toward this goal, we in the maritime industry—higher education institutions,
training centers, and other non-government organizations of manning agencies,
shipowners and other stakeholders who hone the skills of our Filipino seafarers
and shape them to be the most competent and most in-demand sailors of the
world's seas, take a stand to unite and extend our full support to the
Commission on Higher Education on its thrust to quality maritime education and
training," the statement said.
At the same time, PAMTCI and Pami also vowed to assist Ched in making maritime
education providers compliant with the Convention on the Standards of Training,
Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) to raise the standard of maritime schools
in the country and make it at par with the rest of the world.
This, they said has gained added impetus following the decision of the
European Maritime Safety Agency (Emsa) to firmly assess the compliance of
Philippine maritime schools and training centers with international standards
particularly of safety, skills development and quality assurance.
Both groups acknowledged that failure on the part of Ched to regulate and
institute the necessary standards on maritime schools could cripple a vital
industry that government figures showed have earned the country some $4.340
billion in remittances, an increase of $540 million from the 2010 figure, from
Filipino seafarers abroad last year.
The remittances by seafarers have eclipsed those sent by land-based workers
last year.
"We urge, therefore, for concerned government agencies to be vigilant and to
close ranks with the private sector in order to maintain this niche as the
world's number one seafaring nation. To be negligent or to be complacent of
international maritime standards that have been set by regulatory bodies
threatens to cripple a vital industry that has sustained our economy through
its worst crisis," the statement added.
Earlier, Ched Chairperson Dr. Patricia Licuanan said the commission along with
the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) will pressed its crackdown on
erring maritime schools to avert negative reaction from international bodies
such as the Emsa, which is looking at the country's maritime education,
training and certification compliance in accordance with the STCW.
The commission earlier enforced the closure order on two maritime degree
courses-Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation (BSMT) and Bachelor of
Science in Marine Engineering (BSME)-offered by the PMI Colleges after several
deficiencies such as on program administration, faculty, laboratory equipment,
library, research and development were found.
Licuanan said the same were noted in two more maritime schools, one of which is
operating in the Visayas region. She added that the commission and the PMI are
part of the 15 maritime institutions that were subjected to an audit by Emsa
along with the Ched, Dole, Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) and the
Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (Tesda) where the
deficiencies were found.
But the official said the two have already lodged their appeal to the Ched En
Banc. The PMI for its part, have sought the intervention of the Quezon City
Regional Trial Court (RTC), which issued a writ of injunction against the
commission's decision.
The Ched has already sought a reconsideration of the court's order.
Under existing laws, rules and regulations, the failure of a higher education
institute (HEI) to maintain compliance with the requirements for the offering
of a higher education program is punishable by closure through a phase-out
process of the program.
But closure on non-compliant degrees is taken as a last resort after the school
failed to rectify the deficiencies after being given ample time and opportunity
to do so.
But the Ched chair said more is at stake considering that failure on their part
to comply with STCW regulations meant that the country could be de-listed from
the roster of compliant states with the resultant adverse consequences as a
result of the European Union blacklisting of Filipino seamen.
For her part, Ched Legal Director Carmelita Yadao-Sison who also heads the task
force coordinating implementation of Ched actions on non-compliant courses and
programs, denied they were targeting PMI and maritime schools alone adding that
the Commission have also issued the same closure order on other institutions
with non-compliant degrees such as the Harvardian College in San Fernando,
Pampanga.
The closure order for Harvardian Colleges affected courses such as Bachelor of
Science in Education, Bachelor of Science in
Elementary Education, Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Bachelor of Arts
in English, Bachelor of Science in Commerce, Accounting, Management and Finance
and Master of Education Administration, Supervision, Guidance and Counseling.
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