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A GROUP
of manning agencies said it has convinced the government
and other educational institutions in the country to
create an assessment system of maritime students, which
intends to weed out the “weak” ones at the early stages
of their course, in hopes of increasing the passing rate
of those taking the licensure examination.
According to the plan of the Filipino Association for
Mariners’ Employment (FAME), they would conduct an
assessment exam for all second-year maritime students—or
those taking up BS Maritime Transportation and BS Marine
Engineering—to determine if they can still continue the
course or not.
“At this
early stage, we will create a separate path for those
who will fail (the assessment exam), since they cannot
be accepted by the system anyway,” said Ericson M.
Marquez, FAME director, during the 8th Asia-Pacific
Manning and Training Conference.
Marquez,
also president of Virgen Shipping Group of Companies,
said they are also going to the level of high-school
students. Many of their group’s members are scouting for
good students with better chances of succeeding to
become a ship officer.
FAME
said it received support from the government on its new
measure, which it hopes to implement by next year. The
Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration is willing to
give scholarships to the top 100 students who will pass
the examination.
The
assessment measure was meant to raise the passing rate
of those taking the licensure examination given by the
Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). This has
prompted some groups to exert pressure on the agency, by
lowering their passing rates of 70 percent in order to
produce more seafarers that in the next five years—with
additional training—could be officers.
According to industry records, only 20 percent pass
among the average of 9,000 licensure takers annually.
PRC
records show that there are 51,167 registered Marine
deck officers as of August, from master mariners to
officers in charge of the navigational watch. On the
other hand, there are 49,581 registered marine engineer
officers.
The FAME
measure was announced during the manning convention,
which was meant to craft solutions to the unmet demand
for maritime officers due to the increase in the number
of vessels by about 8,000 through 2012.
According to estimates, the international shipping
industry needs 67,800 officers and 22,600 senior
officers by 2010.
Domestic
industry estimates showed that the country can only
produce more than 3,000 officers, with the current
system of education and training.
The
Philippines, which supplies about 28 percent of
seafarers on the world fleet, has been seen to supply
most of the needed personnel, but some of the industry
officials believe that the country’s educational system
has become a major drag. |
