Almond blossom by Vincent van Gogh, 1890
“Ye shall know them by their fruits.” Does the Biblical verse apply as well to the Philippines’ marine licensure examinations? Maritime schools whose graduates do well in the tests obviously think so. It’s all grist for their advertising mill. Others, however, insist that the question of where one studied is irrelevant, that it all depends on the individual. For whatever it’s worth, here are the top placers in the marine deck examinations (written phase) conducted by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) in July 2014:
Top 10 in master mariner exams
Top 10 in chief mate exams
Top 10 in officer-in-charge of navigational watch exams
Source: Professional Regulation Commission
The PRC has separately ranked the schools according to how many of their graduates passed or failed in the various categories. We have disregarded those lists because they include both first-time examinees and repeaters. Moreoever, some schools had only one student taking the tests for certain positions – which makes the rankings rather misleading.
So much for maritime school rankings. Do grades really matter in developing a ship officer’s full potential? Is the whole system giving too much emphasis on the memorisation of facts at the expense of demonstrable work-related skills? Shouldn’t the main focus be on competency-based assessment as required by the STCW Convention? Important questions yet few seem eager to ask them. ~Barista Uno
Feel free to comment on this article. You might also like to read:
Shocking result from Manila licensure exams
Interesting list of graduands and yet not one has been found competent against the Standards in STCW? To be found competent – all competencies must have been met against the standard. There is no mention and also 80% or 92% of a standard if thats the way it is meant to be read, means the standard has not been achieved. All industry standards are to 100% of specifications. Anything less are rejects or seconds? So it still appears that competencies are not yet attained in all the 3 CoCs. And yes, in Competency Based training & assessments, you are either Competent or Not Yet Competent i.e 100% with agreed tolerances if a variance in a particular standard is universally agreed. Gradings are not the way in which competency assessments are made. Judgement is based on critical evidence that must be measured against the agreed industry performance criteria. It seems there is no such performance criteria. Only content and knowledge?
Some change in paradigm is on agenda? It has to be quick to ensure that nationally and internationally all learning and assessments strategies meet the universal minimum standards. All nations and providers are at liberty to deliver training beyond the minimum.
If you have done so, prove it.
Rgds
Richard
Richard, I’m afraid the grading set-up will stay for a long time because it gives those who give the grades a sense of control and power.
Industry performance criteria? I haven’t seen even the shadow of it.
STCW is not only about competency as per shore assessment….Perhaps…Officers onboard are also doing their part to train their people as stipulated in STCW Resolutions in order to address the Industry Performance Criteria…..If you have done so, prove it.