eDUCAtIon AnD tRAInInG
Hunger for talent I
NTU building leaders for the future
t is a much more common sight now to see students from the Singapore Maritime Academy (SMA) at Singapore Polytechnic dressed in a ship's overalls walking from
public bus stops to campus. Instead of changing into their overalls only in campus, the students are now proud to parade this form of dressing commonly worn onboard ships. “Shipping's image has changed,” says Roland
Tan, director of
SMA.The old-mindset of low- paying and dirty jobs in the shipping market is gradually being cast behind as more young people take an interest in this industry. SMA, one of Singapore's talent nurturing
academic institutions, is continuing its drive to train hundreds of youths each year in preparation for them to enter the workforce. SMA's quest for young talent has also resulted
in the course entry cut-off points - the lower number of points the better - being reduced to 16 from 22 about 10 years ago, according toTan. In Singapore's context, cut-off points indicate the aggregate score of the last student that can gain entry into a course under the Singapore- Cambridge GCE 'O' Level qualification. “Singapore's maritime industry contributes some
7.5% to the nation's GDP, and that is quite
considerable.Therefore we need talent,”Tan tells Seatrade. SMA offers three different diplomas in Maritime Business,Marine Engineering and Nautical Studies, as well as hosts of short-term deck officers' and engineering officers' training programmes. Students are also given the opportunities to
attend classes onboard ships and to sail on luxury cruises as part of innovation training programmes created by SMA. SMA's state-of-the-art training facilities include the recently added dynamic positioning laboratory featuring four ships, ship handling simulator rooms, full-mission engine room and a SingTel-supported broadband satellite communications system, among others. Every year, about 340 students, not counting an
attrition of 2-5%,will graduate with the diplomas, and 70% of the students will move on to obtain degrees,Tan said. Elsewhere at NanyangTechnological University
(NTU), the post-graduate Executive MBA in Shipping,Offshore and Finance is looking to beef up its environmental shipping modules as the green agenda rises in importance. There are also plans to introduce courses on
paper trade and derivatives and risk management, according to Nilanjan Sen, associate dean of Nanyang Executive Education at NTU.“We would also like to expose the participants to other markets such as Latin America and Africa, and we'll bring in guest speakers from those markets,” says Sen,who is also associate professor of finance. The Executive MBA is developed jointly by NTU
and Oslo-based BI Norwegian School of
Management.The programme aims to develop global leadership skills for senior executives already working in the shipping and offshore sectors. “We want to build future leaders and allow
them to make an impact in the industry, in their respective organisations or in starting their own companies,” Sen tells Seatrade. Looking forward into 2012, the programme will
explore the possibility of integrating energy modules from the Executive MBA in Energy, which is a joint initiative of NTU, BI and IFP School in Paris, France. The incorporation of some energy modules
covering conventional oil and gas to emerging renewable energy sources will give participants a more holistic understanding of the maritime industry,which relies heavily on energy, Sen says. The six-segment course,which runs for
approximately 18 months in two locations (Singapore and Oslo), costs S$90,000 per head. The school fees are set to increase to S$105,000 next year. The first batch of students were admitted in
January 2009, and the third batch started their course in March this year. More than 30 senior industry executives have
graduated from the
course.They include Lim Sim Keat, ceo of Pacific ShippingTrust,Ngan Man Sham, director and chairman of GMT Shipping Group, Claes EekThorstensen,managing director of Thome Offshore Management, and Lakhbir Singh, director of key client management and Singapore country manager of Jardine Shipping Services. Classes conducted at NTU's state-of-the-art
facilities allow participants to share their experiences of working in different markets and countries, identify potential mergers/acquisitions, analyse case studies, conduct presentations and sit for examinations.“The participants are then able to apply the projects learned from the programme into their own respective companies,” Sen says.
Seatrade Singapore Report 2011 39
‘
Singapore's maritime industry contributes some 7.5% to the nation's GDP, and that is quite considerable. Therefore we need talent.
Roland Tan, director of Singapore Maritime Academy
’
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