Shoddy maritime schools are a poor excuse to exact money from the parents of would-be ship officers. They’re also a disgrace to the country, as we now witness in the European Commission plan to withdraw recognition of Filipino seafarer certificates. Yet, two things need to be said before anyone applauds the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for ordering the closure of the BS Marine Transportation and BS Marine Engineering programmes at PMI Colleges, formerly the Philippine Maritime Institute (PMI).
First, substandard academies would not even exist if the authorities concerned did a proper job of supervising them and otherwise upholding the STCW standards. That the opposite is true is clear from the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) report on the Philippines after the follow-up inspection in 2010. To put it more positively, PMI Colleges would most probably have corrected the deficiencies found by the EMSA team during its first inspection in 2006 if CHED officials had performed their duty. The irony is that thousands of PMI cadets are now forced to transfer to other schools whilst not a single CHED official or employee has been reprimanded or, much less, fired.
Second, what will CHED do with the rest of the 85-plus schools offering maritime baccalaureate programmes? Last October, we got some inkling of how bad some of these institutions are when we served on the panel of judges for the selection of the country’s top maritime students. Although some of the 23 candidates answered the judges’ questions intelligently in correct English, one or two didn’t even know what the IMO was. One lad enrolled in marine engineering could not give a decent answer when we asked how rust is formed.
On the face of it, the CHED closure order on PMI Colleges, issued on 14th October 2011 after the owners’ appeal was denied, is laudable. Founded in 1948, PMI is one of the country’s oldest seafarer institutions but had the most number of outstanding deficiencies amongst the five schools inspected by EMSA in 2010. It’s too early to tell, however, if the Filipino authorities have mustered the political will to clean the stables. Failure to follow through on the clean-up will only bolster the suspicion that PMI has been made a sacrificial lamb to appease the EU gods. ~Barista Uno
NOTE: A copy of the CHED closure order on PMI Colleges can be downloaded from Marine Café Blog’s Downloads section.
An honest opinion viewed from Seafarer’s perspective:
The issue of closing PMI’s BSMT and BSMARE, due to the alleged outstanding deficiencies shown in EMSA report, is a poor judgment. The fact that other schools were not yet inspected does not automatically qualify PMI’s maritime programs as deserving to be closed to say CHED’s action is laudable. It is easy to judge a great percentage of the maritime students aspiring to be one of the Ten Outstanding Maritime Students of the year finding them short of understanding on how rust is formed. But, it takes only 2 minutes to explain to them scientifically the oxidation process and they will understand. Look, even parrots can learn to speak good English. PMI’s deficiencies can easily become the least if all schools are equally audited.
Seafaring is not purely a measure of IQ. Seafaring is the ability of one mind to withstand and remain stable after it has been bombarded with 3 years academic data, one year hard work at a temperature range of –5 C to 40 C, dust, rust, fumes, poor diet, poor social environment, highly physical job, etc. Seafaring reflects the resilience, the character of the person to remain at sea; not merely his mental capacity. Try to find suma cum laude from the best schools in the world, in all disciplines, then ask them to use their genius chipping rust, painting, greasing cargo wires and see what is their success rate. Can we expect them to love sea life? Look at those countries owning ships, why won’t their nationals getting enticed going back to sea? What went wrong? Their schools are world class and they have the best of the best faculty and facility to speak of.
We must be thankful of PMI because the backbone of the seafaring boom that the Philippines enjoy today can be traced back to the great contributions of hard core PMI graduates since 1948 who excelled and conquered the life at sea. Many successful PMI alumni are still alive and working today. They are sitting as consultants, top executives, managers, and entrepreneurs. Surely, if challenged, and if they have the time, they can still engage in paper-based competition.
This is what non-maritime commentators and shore-based maritime experts must first realize so they can appreciate the value of dilapidated but effectively working PMI machinery.
AMIGOS-Marino
i just have a thought, that if the school that were audited by the EMSA were ordered closed,and transfer its students that is compliant only to CHED, who can prove that those school that the CHED recomends was a compliant and audited by EMSA..!!! 5 schools only are audited and PMI is not the worst among those audited by EMSA.so who can prove that 90 more schools that is not audited by EMSA were compliant to this agency???
Ang tinatanong ay kung compliant ang school at hindi kung ang summa cum laude ng kung anong school pwedeng maging mahusay na marinero.
Syempre, dapat malaki ang maitulong ng school sa pagsasanay ng marinero dahil: 1) ayon iyun sa batas at international standard; 2) nagbayad naman ng tunay na pera ang estudyante kaya dapat tunay din ang training; at 3) iyon ang gusto ni Lord… hahaha.
Kaya nga palagay ko maraming dapat isarang school kahit pa father at mother at grandfather pa ng maritime education ang korona nila.
Ayos, di ba?
Sino kaya si amigos?
Bakit parang ang layo ng hirit….. tanong lang po.
The identified deficiencies showed the PMI was failing in its duty to its students. I see no reason why it should remain open to fail Filipino seafarers.
Trully! Close this PMI as soon as possible. There is no reason to fool around with our standards.
PMI is a school, not a ship. It must also have a ship to be a better school.
Students pay tuition to study in a school. Tuition earnings must enable a school to look and behave like a school, smell like a school. School owners and their representatives must ensure that students get their money’s worth, no matter how they compare with other schools that collect higher tuition.
A ship, with its oil and rust and poor food is a workplace. Seafarers get on board to work and get paid, no matter how bad the conditions may be acceptable to those foolish enough to join such miserable ships. It’s the seafarer’s choice to risk his life and limb on such ships. Maritime authorities or unions of better countries may choose to act on such ships and seafarers may also choose what action they may take if that happens.
If PMI is behaving like a despicable school and an unseaworthy ship at the same, only those in the payroll of PMI will choose to keep it open.
Maybe, those who choose to be blind to the crimes of similar schools masquerading as historical institutions to whom seafarers and this country owe a lot stand to benefit from further enriching the like of the Clomas, their in-laws and the school officials.
All of them must be sunk with that ship called PMI.
PMI is a school, that teach student to be effective on ship..how come that a Pioneer school in maritime education that was founded by the father of maritime education becomes non-compliant, and is not effective on teaching maritime education as its field.. PMI is the first and only school who has its own Training ship..the first and oldest school offers BS Marine transportation and BS Marine Engineering.. as one of the columnist said on its article.. ‘‘In every single vessel in foreign and local waters, there is at least one PMI graduate in its crew — proof that PMI graduates are among the most sought after mariners in the industry worldwide.”
My question is who are these technical panel or the technical working group that gave the recommendation to Ched officials to issue the closure order…..because i believe that the Ched officials are only dependent on these twg. Is there any conflict of interest involved?
@nestor m. vargas,
Definitely there’s a conflict of interest involved..!!
CHEd Technical Panel are definitely Executive of CHEd with executive position with their Four recomended universities.
yeah they are…
Yung ex-boyfriend kong taga-PMI ilang years nag-utility sa isang union tapos sa isang manning agency. Pinauwi na ng nanay niya sa probinsya dahil walang opportunity na makasakay. Nagtitinda na lang ngayon ng fish. Pero alam ko dyan sa Ermita at Malate maraming security gard na seaman, graduate din ng PMI, PMMS, at iba pa. Tumanda na pero hindi na nakasakay. Sana magkabalikan kami ng ex ko. Sana matulungan ninyo siyang makasakay sa barko.
Given the time element between the inspections and the recommendations, I do believe that the PMI as a maritime institution must have corrected the deficiencies in part or in full. Also the CHED, having the teeth to implement should have done the push before the recent pull made by the EMSA.
Wow this is a nice forum.
PMI must be closed long time ago! I myself attended a final exam where my cousin believed won’t pass. The instructors do not even know their students as I answered to his roll call. When I was there, I can’t believe it’s a school, too many students and one instructor in a very small classroom. This is PMI Sta Cruz I am referring to. I told my cousin he is perfect in the exam. I also taught him in his assignments as we live in the same boarding house.
The next foundation day of the school, my cousin was invited in a Maritime Quiz bee contest that he refused to join.
PMI must be closed long time ago! If you claim it is a pioneer school in Maritime education… validate it with true facts. Close this PMI and do not let your “crab mentality” let down others.
In the name of fairness, if the basis they are using is the EMSA report, please check the EMSA report before giving any comment which will only expose your ignorance of what is really happening in the seafaring business. Did you know that the EMSA report states that CHED has 6 deficiencies while PMI has 4 deficiencies which are all recitifiable? Question is, why did they issue this closure order when not all the maritime schools were inspected? If CHED has more deficiencies than the schools they have inspected, where is their “delicadeza” to close down any school? Who are the assessors/TWP that made the assessment and recommended the closure order to CHED? Please have your true facts first before giving any opinion which will only expose yourself. Those who point a finger to anybody, 3 fingers are pointing back at him.
The EMSA report is the name of fairness. CHED is the regulatory body in the Philippines and not PMI. Their deficiencies are isolated from each other and CHED were able to rectify them at a given time, PMI did not. “Delicadeza” as you mentioned does not apply to the rule of law. The pointing fingers you exampled is taught in the showbiz, it’s baseless from the facts on the closure of PMI. Hey! you are pointing on all maritime school in the Philippines, the fact is the two schools initially audited passed the EMSA inspection and the others who have deficiencies have shown compliance in rectifying them, PMI did not. PMI is producing many unbelievable thousands of students per year in spite of their known deficiencies… this is horrible!
The EMSA study was an audit of whether the Philippine government agencies were doing their job to maintain training standards. They failed the audit. It is very apparent that little had been done to achieve compliance after an earlier audit.
PMI knew it was not compliant, and had not been for years. It isn’t whether the deficiencies were rectifiable, they had not be rectified for several years. If an organisation of the stature of PMI cannot be bothered to be compliant then few others will be. Closing PMI is pour encourager les autres.
It isn’t EMSA’s duty to do the job of the appropriate Philippine government agencies.
As you have said Mr.Bob, EMSA audit is for TRAINING standards. PMI is not a training center. They are school.They are giving education to the students. EMSA should have inspected the training center and give their assessment. Why CHED(COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION)signed the closure order through the recommendations of the CHED ASSESSORS is questionable. PMI is not a training center and is not accredited by MTC as a training center(MARITIME TRAINING CENTER- which gives license to training center to operate). The finding in the EMSA reports are all basis in STCW (STANDARD OF TRAINING, CERTIFICATION AND WATCHKEEPING- which is the bais of issuing a CERTIFICATE OF COMPETENCY TO A SEAFARER)
PMI is a school and their graduates are called cadets and does not have yet a shipboard experience therefore cannot be issued a C.O.C. Only when the students have a required experienced on board the vessel, then they can apply for to the government agency a C.O.C. NOT CERTIFICATE OF CORRUPTION BUT CERTIFICATE OF COMPETENCY.
By the way, while most of Maritime school has no training ship, PMI has an existing training ship for their cadets.
If you are a school, you have to have a training facilities. If you educate, you have to train your students and you have to have qualified educators. We do not have to post the entire requirements here but just to give a point to the essence of education. So where does PMI stands if it does not have training standards??? Closure…
Sorry but PMI have to close before it can add more to the damages it created on our future seafarers… Of course there are some in many many thousand per year students who made it through but they are isolated cases.
Capt. Vargas, could COC mean “Certificate of Collection”?
mbcuanzon,
“Certificate of Corruption” sir!
brendon L,
FYI, there is a recent RTC order (dated 20 January 2012) granting injunction to PMI which means the court ordered CHED to stop implementing the closure order and allow PMI to continue the BSMT/BSME programs.
Susmariajosep, now they can’t close below standard schools. That’s REALLY going to enhance the credibility of maritime training facilities in the Philippines, isn’t it.
Bob, your comment noted. however, my request is to look in the school first before you give your comment as below standard school! it’s unfair comment! did it not occur to your mind that there must be some mistake in their audit…Auditors are not perfect people! I repeat again, the school does not issue c.o.c.! It is the p.r.c(for officers) and tesda(for ratings) who issues c.o.c. after completing the trainings mtc require. I don’t know if you are aware of the seafaring certification system in the philippines…
Nestor, I am very well aware of the ‘ground truth’ in the Philippines – the adoption by the PRC of computerised examinations is, in part, due to efforts by myself and others. Pass rates dropped from 95 per cent to about 12 per cent.
Having read the EMSA report, which was seen but not commented on by PMI, I can see no room for assuming that experienced and professional auditors “must be wrong”. Where, precisely were they wrong?
It’s better to shape up PMI or face the reality of closure for maritime courses. Yes in the early years you´ve got the standard but today is 2012 and many years has passed and a lot of things changed in the maritime profession. Yes you have your training ship. Does it accomodate all your student? Does the time span of your cadets really that fruitfull during they´re stay for 1 or 2 weeks on board your vessel? Some of your alumnis are already saying that your school motto is quantity first rather than quality.