Varsity certified by Kenya Maritime Authority to offer maritime courses
Three learning institutions have so far been fully accredited by the country’s maritime regulator to offer specialised training in Maritime Transport and Logistics (MTL).
Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) Director General, Major (Rtd) George Nyamoko Okongo said in Kisumu that the MTL curriculum which was rolled out in March 2016 has drawn interest from a number of reputable institutions.
”KMA has audited eleven training institutions with three meeting the set requirements,” he said.
He named the three Mount Kenya University (MKU), Kenya School of Revenue Administration and Coast International College as having been authorised to train MTL courses respectively.
” In recognition of the fact that maritime training is yet to be well developed in Kenya, KMA partnered with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) and other industry subject experts to develop instructors guide and trainee’s manuals for the MTL curriculum,” he said.
Okongo said that all are aware of the government’s efforts to tap into the Blue Economy activities hence the need to capacity build human resource in the sector relevant to the new frontier. ”Human resource capacity building in this context becomes a critical component in driving the Blue Economy agenda,” he said.
The DG observed that maritime education and training has lagged behind other training programs in Kenya for a long time. Characterised by un-harmonized content that vary in time, relevance and coverage and given that the country risked being locked out of International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s ‘White List” of authorized trainers of seafarers, KMA embarked on addressing the legal and administrative framework that enable the country to become compliant with the international requirements for training of seafarers.
The KMA boss revealed that part of the process involved liaising with KICD, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in developing curriculum for seafarers, which are currently run by vetted training institutions.
”What followed next was the development of curriculum for maritime transport logistics, which is being offered at certificate and diploma levels, a journey that commenced in 2013. We appreciate the support of Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC), Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS) and Technical, Vocational and Educational Training Authority (TVETA) on the active role they have played in making the long journey a success,” he said.
Okongo said that KMA looks forward to more engagements as they guide the curriculum implementation process.
Article by:Philip Mwakio, Standard Digital
