SOUTH AFRICA’S MARITIME INDUSTRY AND MARITIME EDUCATION AND TRAINING
3.4 MARITIME EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN SOUTH AFRICA
3.4.3 INSTITUTIONS OFFERING MET IN SOUTH AFRICA Table 3.2 Maritime Education in Secondary Schools in South Africa Table 3.2 Maritime Education in Secondary Schools in South Africa
Province Location School Subjects
KwaZulu-Natal Durban New Forest High Maritime Economics
Nautical Science
Durban J G Zuma Maritime Economics
Durban Sithengile Secondary Maritime Economics
Nautical Science
Western Cape Simon’s Town Simon’s Town High School Maritime Economics Nautical Science
Simon’s Town Lawhill Academy Maritime Economics
Nautical Science
Eastern Cape Simon’s Town King Cole Maritime College Maritime Economics Nautical Science
Source: Compiled by author using various sources (SAMSA, 2010; 2011; 2013)
At secondary-school level, learners have the option of joining either the seafaring or non-seafaring skills streams that lead to increased awareness in the maritime industry. MET at secondary level is vital in South Africa for realising its maritime ambition. However, this route has presented both barriers and successes. The province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) alone has 1 750 schools with the FET phase, which is Grades 10 to 12. Of them all, only 0.003% of the learners have access to maritime education (KZN Department of Education, 2013 cited in Creamer Media Reporter, 2014). The Integrated Maritime Industry Strategy for KwaZulu-Natal stresses that through education and training as well as skills development, it is essential to produce a skilled labour force for the maritime industry (KZN, Department of Economic Development and Tourism, 2013).
In Simon’s Town, Western Cape’s “Lawhill Maritime Centre”, for example, continues to successfully provide two maritime subjects from Grade 10 to Grade 12, with the intention of better preparing the students for the tertiary education and training programmes leading to seagoing
careers as marine navigators or engineers, or for entry into other areas of the Maritime Industry (SOMMSA, 2016). Provision of these two maritime subjects within other schools is being promoted by the Department of Higher Education, and with the support of the government’s Operation Phakisa. For the expansion of this programme to be successful, targeted schools must have suitably qualified and experienced teachers (SOMMSA, 2016). In 2013, in realization of the importance of maritime education, training and awareness in KwaZulu-Natal, the Department of Education in the province released a media statement that, from 2015 it would build two comprehensive Maritime Schools near the ports of Durban and Richards Bay. These schools would be offering subjects such as maritime economics and nautical science (KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education, 2013).
At tertiary level, South Africa has no solely MET-dedicated public higher-education institution, better known as universities. Public higher-education institutions in South Africa are administrative executive institutions, and have been established under the national sphere of government. South Africa has seven public higher education institutions that provide MET, however, there are other public post-school providers of MET. These include Further Education and Training Institutions (FETs), Government and Parastatal Organisations, such as Transnet and the private sector, which are not part of the scope of this study. Table 3.3 below presents public Higher Education and Training institutions which provide MET programmes in South Africa.
Table 3.3: Maritime Education and Training in Universities in South Africa
Location Institution Courses
KwaZulu-Natal
University of KwaZulu-Natal
(UKZN) • Postgraduate Diploma: Maritime Law
• Postgraduate Diploma: Maritime Transport
• Postgraduate Diploma: Maritime Studies
• Master of Laws: Marine and Ship Surveying
• Master of Laws: Maritime Studies
• Bachelor of Science Honours: Marine Ecology
• Master of Business Administration: Maritime Transport Economics and Management
• PhD Maritime Studies
• PhD Maritime Law Durban University of Technology
(DUT) • Chief Mate Certificate of Competency
• National Higher Diploma: Maritime Studies National Diploma: Maritime Studies
• Non-Diploma: Marine Engineering – (Marine Engineering is offered as a Non- Diploma programme but the programme is under development to offer (in 2011) a Higher Certificate on completion of S2 and an Advanced Certificate on completion of S4).
Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT)
(Proposed courses)
• Maritime Nautical Studies
• Marine Engineering (Commencing in 2019)
• Maritime Electronics/Electrical Engineering and Communications (Commencing in 2019)
• Ports Management and Operations
Western Cape
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
(CPUT)
Marine Navigation
• Deck Officer (S1/S2)
• Chief Mate/Master (S3/S4)
Marine Engineering Dept of Mechanical &
Industrial Engineering
• Engineer of Watch
• Second Engineer Officer
• Chief Engineer Officer
Marine Engineering Dept of Maritime Studies
• Engineer Officer of the Watch
• Second Engineer Officer
• Chief Engineer Officer
Offshore Survival
• National Diploma: Maritime Studies
• National Diploma: Fisheries Resource Management
• National Diploma: Oceanography
• Bachelor of Technology: Oceanography University of Cape Town (UCT)
• Marine & Environmental Law
• Marine Research University of Stellenbosch (US)
• Bachelor of Philosophy: Maritime:
Transportation and Logistics
• Bachelor of Military Science: Technology and Defence Management
• Post-graduate degrees in Maritime Studies
−BPhil −MPhil − PhD
Eastern Cape
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan
University (NMMU) • Postgraduate Diploma: Maritime
Studies
Rhodes University (RU) Marine Resources - Ichthyology
• National Diploma
• Bachelor Degrees
• Master’s
• Doctorates.
Source : Compiled by author using various sources (SAMSA, 2010 ; 2011 ; 2013)
There is a reasonable spread, although not consistent with MET higher-education programmes across 7 institutions, excluding MUT, directly supporting the maritime industry in South Africa.
The inconsistency is in, for example, programmes that focus on the business services. SAMSA (2013), in this regard, maintains that, because the spread of MET programmes is undoubtedly not consistent across the 7 clusters of the maritime industry, the individual responses to demand by each MET institution have inevitably not shaped a coherent response to the demands of the industry. This is in terms of the levels of programmes required, for example, the limited number of higher level master’s and doctoral programmes (SAMSA, 2013). Whilst the demand identifies
50% more students to meet the immediate demands of the local maritime industry and sectors within (SAMSA, 2014).
The skills for professional services are provided through specialised maritime education programmes in higher education − undergraduate and postgraduate degree studies. These include, amongst others, Maritime Law, Maritime Economics, Maritime Civil Engineering, Maritime Environmental Sciences, Petroleum Geoscience, Customs and Excise, Petro-Chemical Engineering, and Naval Architecture. The seafaring qualifications are broken down into domestic (port operations, coastal, and fishing) and international qualifications (STCW). The seafaring diploma qualification (STCW) is offered by two public institutions in South Africa, the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), and Durban University of Technology (DUT).
The non-seafaring streams generally fall within the onshore marine support sector, particularly port operations, as well as professional services. The onshore maritime support sector employs cargo handling and logistics facilitation skills, including stevedoring, ship handling, ship agencies, forwarding and clearing, and customs. However, there are no public institutions that provide qualifications for these skills; and there are only a few, limited, private institutions that provide such training. These private institutions are often linked to international institutions, which makes this training a very expensive qualification.
Mthethwa (2003), in the early 2000s, estimated that South Africa had the potential to develop its maritime industry and MET through institutional development. This could be achieved by vocational schools and universities developing special curricula and programmes in maritime.
They would have to set up new schools; however, this would require vast resources, such as teaching staff and funding. Mthethwa (2003) expressed that:
“South Africa produces thousands of graduates per annum, be it in high school and/or tertiary institutions. A great number of these graduates are not employable in growth sectors for a variety of reasons, one of which is inappropriate qualification. The development of appropriate curriculum and tertiary training and a gradual shift in the control of shipping related activity to the local markets would be auger well for coastal communities in particular as shipping/
marine logistics career orientation can lead to new career opportunities” (Mthethwa, 2003:44).
In this regard, the next section considers the challenges facing MET in South Africa which may
3.4.4 CHALLENGES FACING MET IN SOUTH AFRICA