 Bangalore: Quality standards in maritime training in India may improve because the directorate general of shipping has decided to make available online how institutes have fared in terms of providing on-board training to students.
The first lot of records, relating to the one-year diploma course in nautical science conducted between 2004 and 2007, is already available on the directorate's website.
"The placement record will give an indication to parents and students about the credibility of the institute and whether the institute is able to provide on-board training or not," said S.K. Jaiswal, additional director general of shipping.
India allowed private institutes to impart sea training in the late 1990s. The country has some 131 maritime training institutes, who need to place students on ships as trainees after classroom instruction and before they can appear for their examinations.
"This will lead to a shakeout in the industry," said S. Bhardwaj, vice chancellor of Chennai-based AMET University.
The focus earlier was on churning out seafarers without bothering about quality, as India looked for quick results to supply manpower to the global maritime industry, said Satish Agnihotri, India's director general of shipping.
"As a result, a message went out to the private training institutes that the sector is open for profiteering and not profit-making. From boom time, we are moving to recession. Times have changed. I see an opportunity to calibrate my seafaring supply side mechanism," he said. "I have absolutely no problem with profit-making but have every problem with profiteering. Shipboard training berths needs to be drastically increased. We have taken steps to bring in training commitments by Indian ship owners."
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