Namfi sets record straight on sea service

FOLLOWING complaints from former students of the Namibian Maritime and Fisheries Institute (Namfi) about practical experience at sea, the Institute yesterday set the record straight on its role in arranging sea service for students.

Last week, Agustus Nangombe, a former student of the Walvis Bay-based institute who completed a course as a Marine Engineer Officer Class 6, told The Namibian that Namfi had failed to provide students with the necessary sea service after completing the theoretical elements of the course.
He said his understanding when he enrolled at the institute was that Namfi would place him at a company where he would acquire the 12 to 18 months of sea service required to be certified by the Directorate of Marine Resources in the Ministry of Fisheries.
Nangombe said he had found it difficult to get this experience, as companies told him that they were only taking in this year’s Namfi students, arranged for by the Institute, and not former students.
‘The training and education is very good, but it is not nice that you spend lots of money and then they just leave you on the street. It would’ve been better for them to at least have helped with acquiring the sea time,’ he complained.
Nangombe spent N$15 430 on the six-month course, receiving a certificate for the completion of Marine Engineer Officer Class 6 course, a certificate in Safety Training, his testimonial and his results.
But Namfi Director Polli Andima says between 2005 and 2008 students were not offered sea service as part of their study package, and it was made very clear to them that the onus was on them to acquire this experience.
‘The student knew from the beginning that he would have to go out and find sea service for himself, and that this was not the responsibility of the Institute. So it’s not like we are dodging the responsibility. It is just like with students at vocational training centres that have to find (internships) on their own,’ he told The Namibian.
Andima acknowledged, however, that leaving students to arrange their own sea service has proven ineffective.
He said for the 2009 intake of students, whose course starts in May, the Institute approached the Ministry of Education to provide bursaries and arranged with various companies to provide sea service.
As for students like Nangombe in the 2005-2008 group, who are struggling to find placements for sea service, Andima said Namfi has tried to assist where it can, but it remains their own responsibility to find placements.
nangula@namibian.com.na

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