- PS said they want to build an advanced firefighting centre which will issue learning on safety in the sea while on ship.
- This is an important course because according to the PS, it will create job opportunities for a lot of students in the sea.
Image: Aura Ruth
State has invested Sh20 billion to improve the maritime courses at the Bandari Maritime college in Mombasa.
Speaking on Thursday during the official launch of the Bandari Maritime academy strategic plan 2021, principal secretary Shadrack Mwadime said launching of the plan is the beginning of a long journey towards the realisation of the academy as a centre of excellence in Maritime Education and Training.
He said massive resources shall be required in the process and therefore the state will support resource mobilisation in order to make the institution match other contemporary MET training centres in the world.
“We want to convert this institution into a regional centre of excellence, going forward, we will be setting aside resources as a government to ensure the kind of students we produce here are of the standards required internationally,” he said.
“This will also help in accessing the international labour market and for us to access it, the quality of our certificates has to be as high as possible. We are therefore determined as a government to ensure this is implemented.”
Mwadime said the academy needs to expand its curriculum portfolio and enhance the physical infrastructure to accommodate higher student’s population, matters that are well articulated in the strategic plan.
To make the institution meet the international standards, the state will invest immensely in building two centres as part of the strategy using the suggested amount.
He said they want to build an advanced firefighting centre which will issue learning on safety in the sea while on ship.
This is an important course because according to the PS, it will create job opportunities for a lot of students in the sea.
The second centre which is also most important and which will expand the courses of the institution to almost 20, is the survival training centre which offers certificates which are highly needed.
The second centre is also important because it will give an opportunity to everyone schooling in the institution to also get work in the ship.
“The two areas are where we are going to invest immensely but the Sh20 billion is for a master plan that we have come up with. We are not going to rely upon public resources alone, we are also approaching development partners to assist us get the resources that we require,” he said.
The PS said the European Union has already expressed an interest and going forward, the state will approach more development agencies to come and assist in this endeavour.
He said they are not only setting resources aside but also calling upon development partners to assist to convert the institute to a centre of excellence in the next two or four years.
The PS said the shipping transport sector can play a fundamental role in addressing the pressing issue of youth employability, noting the enormous opportunities in the sector regionally and internationally.
He said the government has set an ambitious target of recruiting at least 40,000 seafarers annually to hit a cumulative tally of 200,000 seafarers on ships by 2027.
This effort through building of trusted Kenyan seafarer Brand, is expected to yield $31.61 billion which is equivalent to Sh3.93 trillion in remittances over 35 years.
He said the government of Kenya is also working towards signing MOUs with other countries that provide the opportunities including Denmark.
“We have agreed on a partnership programme, other than the IMO and doing the evaluation periodically, they can come to our institute too and do some inspection. On the basis of that inspection, they will be able to engage our young people on their shipping lines,” he said.
“Our young people are already accessing these jobs and therefore there is no need of being anxious or apprehensive because the certificates that are offered in our institution meet the international standards,” he said.
On the sea time experience that the graduates need, the PS said they are already in partnership with CMA CGM and that last year, they picked six graduates, and this year they are picking 12 and going forward they are going to pick 25.
“In Mediterranean shipping company, we are already in discussion with them to agree on the same but so far they have offered 1,500 slots for our young people who graduated from Bandari Maritime academy to get sea time experience,” he said.
-Edited by SKanyara