FAME urges govt to sponsor cadetship programs

THE Filipino Association for Mariners' Employment (FAME) is looking into possible support from the government for the cadetship training of students who are taking a degree in marine transportation or marine engineering courses.

Ericson Marquez, president of FAME, revealed in his speech during The Manila Times Maritime Forum, «Shipping, logistics and crewing for nation building,» the pressing need for more cadetship training opportunities.

Marquez said that about 26,000 cadets were enrolled in the 83 maritime schools in the country every year. Of this number, shipping companies can only accommodate 5,000 for onboard training (OBT), leaving 21,000 maritime students unable to graduate.

Ericson Marquez, president of FAME, during the The Manila Times Maritime Forum. PHOTO BY CIH

The current maritime education program scheme of «3-1» requires maritime students to undergo three years of academic studies and one year of shipboard training before graduation.

With the lack of OBT slots from shipping companies, however, a good number of maritime students end up not graduating. Marquez urged the government to sponsor maritime students' OBT to alleviate this concern.

He said sponsorships can be based on the merit of each cadet, with school top-notchers given priority.

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Sabino Czar Manglicmot III, president of the Philippine Association of Maritime Institutions (PAMI), explained in a previous event the challenges of OBTs.

He said that while shipboard training was originally intended to expedite the development of marine officers, it only evolved into a significant impediment, contributing to the prolonged delay in the conferral of baccalaureate diplomas for numerous maritime students.

PAMI also emphasized that shipboard training extends the duration of graduation of maritime cadets, thus impeding their deployment onboard ships and subsequently delaying the production of qualified officers.

Manglicmot said that maritime schools could not demand shipping companies to allocate slots for cadets onboard a ship that is usually run by only around 20 to 30 crew members. Hence, out of the 25,000 to 30,000 maritime students each year, only a meager 20 percent make it to sea.