The study was undertaken in collaboration with the International Mariners Management Association of Japan (IMMAJ)-Philippine-Japan Manning Consultative Council (PJMMC), which provided for the funding requirements during the 3-leg Maritime Faculty Development Forum held in Mindanao, Visayas and Luzon.  The Maritime Faculty Development Forum gathered maritime instructors coming from Maritime Higher Education Institutions (MHEIs) across the country to discuss in a workshop their training and development needs as well as issues and concerns that impact on the delivery of quality maritime education.  The maritime faculty were likewise enjoined to propose solutions thereto.

In the forum, panel discussants from the Philippine government agencies with regulatory function on the implementation of the country’s maritime education and training, such as the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), presented their programs and projects in the light of the full enforcement of the 2010 Manila Amendments to the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) and the implementation of the K-12 Basic Education System in the country. The Philippine Association of Maritime Institutions (PAMI) also discussed initiatives on maritime faculty development while the Class NK (a Japanese ship classification society) presented its consultative audit service based on ISO 29990 for Maritime Higher Education Institutions (MHEIs).  The Joint Manning Group (JMG) through representatives from PJMCC likewise presented its activities to help in addressing perceived deficiencies in the Philippine maritime education and training and expressed its ‘wish lists’ for the enhancement of the Philippine MHEIs.

The workshop outputs, the presentations by the panelists and the discussions that ensued in the open forum provide valuable insights into the current situation of the Philippine MHEIs in terms of the training and development needs of the maritime faculty and other related concerns in the delivery of quality maritime education vis-à-vis with ongoing initiatives of industry stakeholders on enhancing Philippine maritime education and training, particularly on capability building of the maritime faculty. These insights offer significant inputs in developing a National Maritime Program for Faculty Development that would build and sustain the country’s pool of maritime faculty who are qualified and highly competent facilitators and activators of learning by seafarers in the context of the STCW competency-based standards for education and training. 

The participants of the Maritime Faculty Development Forum in the three venues (Mindanao, Visayas, Luzon), as the stakeholders in the maritime education sector, committed to fully support all initiatives and programs towards enhancing the competencies of the Philippine maritime faculty members and to continuously uphold and promote the development of competent and globally competitive Filipino seafarers to operate ships in the international maritime labor market.