TESDA Unveils Seafarers’ Skill-upgrading Program

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Despite the growing demand for seamen worldwide, there is an existing shortage of qualified Filipino marine officers because of lack of opportunity for their training and upgrading of their existing qualifications.

To address the shortage, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) unveiled a training and assessment program that would link major players in the maritime industry and create a pool of trainers and assessors to upgrade their capabilities and increase job opportunities.

“We want to enhance our training and assessment program to make them more equipped and skilled as they set sail all over the globe,” TESDA Director-General Joel Villanueva said in a news release posted on the agency’s website.

In February, TESDA invited major players of the maritime industry in a consultation meeting to know their concerns and to be able to plan and provide necessary policies to beef up the industry, specifically that concerning the quality of the labor force.

After the consultation, TESDA created a technical working group (TWG) in maritime that set its sights on the possibility of creating a single pool of assessors and trainers to offer seafarers a one-stop shop where they can train, re-train or upgrade their skills, and then later on undergo assessment and certification to raise their value in the job market.

The TWG will also review the training regulations (TR) in Watchkeeping Deck, Watchkeeping Engine, AB Deck, AB Engine, and Electro Technical Rating to ensure it complies with the International yardstick set under the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW).

To date, there are some 71 training institutions nationwide offering 142 programs for deck and engine ratings.

All these training institutions are authorized by TESDA to offer maritime education programs based on compliance with the minimum standards set by the provision of the STWC Convention.

The Commission on Higher Education handles the training and education concerns of maritime students.

The examination and licensing, competency assessment, and certification of marine officers are handled by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).

“TESDA will work with CHED on a seamless maritime education and training program where the ratings course is articulated to the officers program that will most certainly address this burning issue of shortage of workers and provide our experienced ratings the opportunity for career advancement,” according to the TESDA chief.

Coordination among concerned various agencies will also improve the curriculum and offer new technologies and methodologies in maritime education and training in the Philippine context, Villanueva added.

There are about 300,000 Filipino seamen deployed in almost every port and ship in the world. (TESDA/RJB/SDL/PIA-NCR)

Source: Philippine Information Agency

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