Articles

GRINDROD SAILS THE BOAT FOR MARITIME EDUCATION

2010-02-18

It’s that time of the year again. South Africa’s matric students all across the country are taking their seats and lifting their pens to complete their final examinations

With the constant criticism the South African education system faces over syllabus and curriculum changes, the distribution and management of funds, as well as safety and security within schools, the achievements of our country’s education system are often forgotten. 

Over the past nineteen years, the Department of Education has had the challenging task of improving and implementing an educational system that, unlike its predecessor, is not discriminatory upon race. Matriculants of every race enrolled at government schools are writing the same exam and are tested within the same framework, putting the necessary systems in place for a functional education system that is available to everyone.

There is no question that, for a developing country, a focus on infrastructure-improvement is key. Since the very first days of trade between Europe and the East, South Africa has played an extremely important role in trade and shipping. This is largely due to the key geographical position it holds as a half-way stop between East and West. However, with the international affixation on South Africa’s mining and natural resource strengths, the importance and economic potential of the exporting process of these resources is frequently overlooked.  

“If the shipping industry was suddenly to stop, South Africa’s economy would crash overnight,” suggests Brian Ingpen, Maritime Economics teacher at Simon’s Town High School in Cape Town.  Ingpen has ninety-nine students across grades 10, 11 and 12 enrolled in the school’s Maritime Studies program. The program comprises two subjects, namely Maritime Economics and Nautical Science, and it is accredited by the Department of Education and Training and examined by the Independent Examination Board. 

Yet for those planning on entering the maritime industry, a trying task awaits. Finding secondary level institutions to provide learners with the necessary fundamental knowledge to study Maritime Studies at the higher level is a difficult search indeed. 

“While the department of education provides us with adequate support,” says Ingpen, “all paid Maritime Studies teaching posts in the Western Cape are privately funded.” Ingpen suggests that there is a huge market for qualified Maritime Engineers with between 20 000 and 50 000 vacancies worldwide. Bearing in mind our high unemployment rate, it would seem short-sighted for the Department of Education and Training of a developing country like South Africa not to put a greater emphasis on an industry that can boast as great a job-potential as the maritime industry. 

Private companies, however, have realised this potential and have invested phenomenally high amounts in facilities and opportunities for maritime high school learners. Margaret Masuku, teacher of Maritime Studies at Sethengile High School near Durban, believes that her learners’ success is a direct outcome of funding and support from the private sector. “Grindrod, the Shipping and Logistics Company,   has provided us with two new maritime classrooms and has given us indispensible stationary and books for the students.” 

Grindrod has also focused on providing high school learners with practical training through learnerships conducted by the Unicorn Training School.  These learnerships provide students with the practical experience that helps them procure employment within the shipping industry. 

The private industry has begun to realise and invest in ‘specialist’ subjects like Maritime Studies which is still only offered at very few high schools in South Africa. This support from the private sector has resulted in better equipped students entering higher education in a field so vital for the development of South Africa’s infrastructure.