CHED to work with MARINA in implementing reforms suggested by EU for Filipino seafarers

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said Monday that it is ready to coordinate with maritime schools and the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) to implement reforms suggested by the European Union (EU) to ensure that Filipino seafarers can continue to work on foreign vessels.

CHED chairman Prospero de Vera III made the remark after the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, announced that it will continue to recognize the certificates issued for seafarers by the Philippines.

This developed months after the EU warned that Filipino maritime workers may be banned from its vessels following the country’s repeated failure to hurdle the European Maritime Safety Agency’s (EMSA) evaluation in the past 16 years.

“CHED is ready to work with MARINA and the maritime HEIs (higher education institutions) to fully implement the needed reforms based on the areas identified by the EU in its letter to guarantee that our graduates continue to be hired in international vessels,” de Vera said in a statement.

These reforms include areas in monitoring, evaluation of training, assessment of competence, availability and use of training facilities and simulators, and on-board training.

De Vera said that CHED partnered with MARINA earlier to address the EU’s findings on the Philippines’ compliance to the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW).

“Initiatives on curricular reforms, examination and assessment, ship board training, and capacity-building training for CHED, MARINA and Maritime HEIs were undertaken. A five-year moratorium on the opening of new maritime programs was imposed to make sure the review of all maritime schools can be undertaken before we add new ones,” he said.

“This is a huge victory for the country. Now, after so many years, we finally get a note that our compliance efforts are recognized by the EU,” he added.

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista on Saturday said more than 49,000 Filipino marine officers and their families in the Philippines will gain from the recent EU decision. —Giselle Ombay/ VAL, GMA Integrated News