False Promises
Newspaper, The Philippine Star recently raised the thorny issue of seafarer oversupply – as they questioned why the country is still producing so many maritime graduates when they cannot be absorbed by the world shipping market.
According to a damning indictment of the current system, they slam maritime schools who advertise their services to, "sail around the world and earn in dollars". They claim trainees and their families are spending thousands of pesos for tuition fees and other cost and demand that people are warned of the, "empty promises of maritime recruitment".
The Philippines has long been the leading supplier of seafarers to the worldwide shipping industry. Indeed Filipinos sit alongside Indians as the preferred crews of choice. Though the xenophobic Philippine Star believes that Filipinos have the edge because, "Indians are known to be argumentative, while Filipinos are more amiable". Guess we'll find out from the emails we get.
The paper wants to bring the government's attention to the big social problem plaguing the industry, the fact that they have 93 maritime schools accredited by the government, churning out 20,000 graduates per year. In 2010, the nation deployed 82,000 officers and 125,000 ratings.
According to their number crunching the industry only needs 5,000 graduates yearly to replace retiring seafarers and to meet new labour demands. So what is to happen to the remaining 15,000 graduates yearly who cannot find employment?
The maritime education sector is currently guilty of promising a false dream as the oversupply of maritime graduates means that thousands of maritime students do not get the opportunity to practice what they've been studying for.
The media campaign wants to see the Philippine government cease issuing new licenses for maritime schools unless they can prove that they can put up a higher standard of maritime education and have the latest equipment and systems in place. Without a reassessment, then the promise of "sailing around the world and earning dollars" is no longer a dream but a nightmare to victimised parents and students.
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