Editorial:

Harmonised education is the key issue

The significant decline in the numbers of ships under EU member state flag and in the numbers of EU seafarers has led to several actions taken by the EU Commission and Parliament. A short while ago, the Parliament adopted a Commission Communication on training and recruitment of seafarers.
Although the shortfall of maritime officers in EU as a whole is significant there are variations within the Union. There are countries where recruitment to the maritime schools poses no problems while in other member states the schools are half full. When there is a surplus of trained officers in one part of the Union, the situation is often the reverse in another part. If free movement for officers were facilitated, especially since this is fundamental to the common inner market place, the situation would improve for the officers, their nations and the ship owners. But in many cases, national fiscal laws, employment rules and bureaucracy restrict the free movement.
The basic problem to solve is the differences when national maritime educational programs are compared. Although the international convention on education and training for seafarers, the STCW Convention, has been ratified by all EU member states, the length and organisation of the educational programs as well as the course curricula vary, sometimes significantly.
The variations are surprisingly large especially in the view of a ship being a ship irrespective of what flag she sails under. Manoeuvring is the same and the cargo is handled in the same way.
There are of course reasons why the education programs leading to jobs in the world’s most global and border-less activity, shipping and maritime transport, vary so greatly between nations. For instance, the maritime education system in each country has to be organised on the basis of that particular country’s basic and compulsory educational system, but this can’t account for all variations and differences. Much is due to traditional and cultural differences.
One aim in the IMO-led EU-financed project METNET is to harmonise the educational programs of the member states. It is a vast and laborious task and when the job is done, the next challenge will be the problematic implementation in the educational systems in the member states.
When this is completed there will still be differences in what proficiency and competence a nation will demand before issuing an officer certificate, for instance knowledge in the national maritime and labour legislation, but if the METNET project is successful the differences has become a minor problem.
A common educational platform with harmonised curricula would make it possible for youth in countries where the interest in maritime education exceeds the educational capacity to apply to schools in countries with vacant student places. It would also facilitate an exchange of teachers and students.
The next step could be to introduce a common EU Certificate of Competence. If each member state accept English as the common language at sea, and if they organise a course curricula for additional national proficiency demands the EU certificate could be endorsed by the member state when the applicant has passed the course. An officer could then hold a certificate endorsed by several member states and he or she is free to move between national merchant marines as the demand for his or hers professional services changes.

Rolf Petrén Nilsson Editor-in-Chief

Back to SSG 2, 8 February

Latest update 18-10-2006 8:49

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