CHED swears in 10 new officers to boost PH maritime education

CHED swears in 10 new officers to boost PH maritime education
Merlina Hernando-Malipot October 11, 2018 https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/10/11/ched-swears-in-10-new-officers-to-boos...

Commission on Higher Education Officer-in-Charge Dr. J. Prospero E. De Vera III welcomes the reconstituted Technical Panel for Maritime Education. (CHED / MANILA BULLETIN)
In an effort to ensure that the Philippines will meet the requirements of international and regional demands of Maritime Education, 10 new members of the Commission on Higher Education-Technical Panel for Maritime Education (CHED-TPME) were sworn in this week.

CHED Officer-in-Charge (OIC) J. Prospero de Vera III led the ceremony for the new members of the CHED-TPME in Quezon City and described the newly-reconstituted TPME as a “fully-functional technical panel.”

It is now chaired by Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) Administrator Rey Leonardo Guerrero.
De Vera said that the TPME is the “first reconstituted technical panel based on the adoption of a new framework for technical panels that ensured equal representation of industry, academe and government.”

The new representation among industry, government, and academe in the TPME is critical to “ensure that the country will meet the requirements of international and regional demands of Maritime Education,” he said.

“We have to harness the strength of the maritime industry, for after all, our maritime education graduates will be hired by them,” De Vera said. “We also have to make sure that the government, represented by MARINA and CHED, is present in the panel so the curriculum will be guided by international agreements and commitments,” he added.

The CHED OIC also underscored the need for “academe for curriculum development and quality standards.”

New TPME members

Aside from Guerrero, the members of the CHED-TPME include Vice Admiral Narciso Vingson, Jr., Officer-in-Charge of the Office of the Executive Director, MARINA; Atty. Cinderella Filipina Benitez-Jaro, OIC – Director IV, Office of the Executive Director and Director IV, Legal and Legislative Services, CHED; Engr. Feliz Oca, Vice President, Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific / President, Philippine Association of Maritime Institutions (PAMI);

Capt. Reynold Sabay, Training Operations Manager, OSM Maritime Group / Founder and CEO, MyMETPH Solutions, Inc.; Jamie Morales, Training Superintendent, Anglo-Eastern Manila Training Center; Atty. Maximo Bañares, Jr., Director II, Legal Service, MARINA;

Vice Adm. Richard U. Ritual, President, Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA); Capt. Ireneo Delos Santos, President, Genesis Quezon Tugs, Inc. / President and Chief, Harbor Pilot – Quezon Harbor Pilotage District; and Engr. Sammuel Lim, President, Great Southern Maritime Services Corporation / Chairman, Philippine Register of Shipping / President, Great Swiss Shipping Corp. / Founding President & Chairman, Society of Naval Architects & Marine Engineers Inc. (SONAME).

Roadmap for maritime eduction

De Vera noted that among the main responsibilities of the new TPME is to “create a roadmap for Maritime Education for the next ten years.” In July, CHED and MARINA signed the Joint CHED-MARINA Memorandum Circular No. 1 or the “Guidelines on Joint CHED-MARINA Monitoring of Maritime Education Programs.”

The said memorandum outlines four important areas of collaboration which include qualifications and composition of the monitoring team; key areas of evaluation; conduct of monitoring and evaluation of findings; and reporting and appeal procedures.

De Vera said that through this effort, the two agencies intend to build on the monitoring and compliance of Maritime education programs in the country and to ensure the competitiveness of Filipino seafarers worldwide.