Quality maritime education through unity and cooperation

(Excerpts from the keynote speech of Dr. Felizardo Y. Francisco, Director IV, CHED, Office of Programs and Standards, at the 35th Annual General Assembly Meeting of the Philippine Association of Maritime Institutions [PAMI] held at AMOSUP Hospital Building, Davao City on December 5)

Icommend the officers and members of PAMI for initiating and conducting for 35 years this annual assembly. This is already an accomplishment in itself. Gatherings like this should not only be a meeting of minds to look at our present challenges and responses, but should also give recognition and tribute to the maritime schools’ administrators, faculty and other stakeholders who through their collective efforts have put forward the interests of Filipino seafarers and of our country as a whole. May I enjoin you to give a big hand to all the member-institutions that contributed to make this association alive and last that long.

May I say that in every activity/endeavor there are three things we can always ponder and act on. These are (1) Opportunity to meet and have fellowship with one another. (2) Contribute and share in the discussion in the spirit of cooperation (prove our worth). And (3) Accept that we have weaknesses and that occasions like this give us the opportunity to learn something.

The theme for this year’s General Assembly is “Quality maritime education thru unity and cooperation.” Let me remind you, however, that Unity is not necessarily Uniformity, neither is it Union nor Unanimity. Unity in its real essence is Harmony in spite of Diversity.

My dear administrators of maritime institutions, such a noble pursuits to have unity and cooperation to achieve quality education are sometimes affected by cold shower douses. After experiencing pain and frustration after several attempts . . . do you feel that there’s no more use trying?

With all of you present in this general assembly, I guess the thrust of providing “Quality maritime education thru unity and cooperation” is very much alive. I am aware that the CHED and PAMI are partners and are working hand in hand to promote quality maritime education in our country, CHED thru the Technical Panel has considered your comments and recommendation during the recently concluded public consultation on four Policies, Standards and Guidelines (PSGs) for maritime education, held at NYK in Intramuros, Manila. These are the Supplemental Guidelines for CMO No. 13, s. 2005, Criteria for Center of Excellence (COE) and Center of Development (COD), Graduate Programs and BS Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (BSNAME). Once finalized and approved by the Commission En Banc, these PSGs will be of great help in molding our maritime students and future marine officers.

Let me brief you on some activities at the CHED. Recently Chairman Emmanuel Y. Angeles invited the Technical Panel Chairs of different programs with PRC Licensure or Board Examination to an orientation meeting on the National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE). Invited in this meeting was Dr. Nelia Benito, Director III of the National Education Testing and Research (NETRC) of the Department of Education. Dr. Benito discussed the general purpose as well as the specific objectives of NCAE. The areas of evaluation are: scientific ability, reading comprehension, verbal ability and mathematical ability, which comprise the overall general scholastic aptitude test; clerical ability and manipulative skill, which comprise the overall technical vocational aptitude; and nonverbal ability and entrepreneurial skill. Dr. Benito also mentioned the suggested modes in determining the NCAE cut-off score.

The Technical Panel Chairs are now requested to discuss the same with all members and to come up with a resolution adopting the mode appropriate to the programs they are handling and the suggested cut-off score as well.

The other program to be implemented by CHED starting this summer is the second phase of the faculty development program for a period of six years. Seven hundred twenty (720) slots are targeted to be filled up for Batch 1 this school year 2010-2011. These are for the masters degree program, doctorate degree (local), Ph.D. sandwich program (abroad) and short term training courses. Masters in Maritime Education is one of the courses being evaluated. At present there are two (2) maritime schools being considered as delivering institutions in order to increase the number of qualified faculty.

In fact, the Chairman of CHED is open to nominations from the Association of Maritime Schools, Academe, PRC, industry and others for membership in the Technical Panel for Maritime Education.

Curricular reform is another major thrust of CHED. The different technical panels are now studying which practice to adopt in order to make the curricula of all courses comparable with the curricula of colleges and universities in other Asean countries. Globalization requires internationalization of programs that must be benc-marked internationally. The Commission is now looking at the performance of colleges/universities based on the performance of graduates in board examinations . . .

Several projects are now being implemented, these are geared up to:

1. Increase the performance of your graduates in the PRC Board Examinations. The latest figure shows that for the last three years (2006, 2007 and 2008):

• In the officer-in-charge Deck Watchkeeping Exam, out of 15,587 who took the exam 7,536 passed the exam and the passing rate was 48.35 percent.
• In the officer-in-charge Engine Watchkeeping Exam, out of 6,495 who took the exam 3,478 passed the exam and the passing rate was 53.60 percent.

These data from PRC were based on 84 recognized MHEIs.

2. Implement strictly the Shipboard Training to enable the cadets to gain the knowledge and competencies required.
3. Increase the number of BS graduates per year.
4. Upgrade the faculty qualifications to advance their professional growth through the Faculty Development Program.
5. Encourage excellent Research and Extension Services.
6. Upgrade and maintain laboratory equipment.

Meeting as an organization on a regular basis show that you care for one another. The officers care to update its members on the developments, issues and concerns of the maritime education program. The members care to appreciate the efforts of their officers that they find time to attend despite their busy schedules and commitments. Let us cooperate with one another, have unity and be supportive of each other.

Rest assured that CHED would continue do its share in this undertaking. As active partners let us link up and network. Let us always remember John Maxwell’s line “Our attitude is either our best friend or our worst enemy is our greatest asset or our greatest liability.” –FELIZARDO Y. FRANCISCO, Manila Times

opinion@manilatimes.net