Latvian Maritime academy

SHOULD COMPETENT SEAFARER BE EDUCATED?
LEGISLATIVE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN LEVELS OF
COMPETENCE AND LEVELS OF EDUCATION
Viktoras Senčila
Lithuanian Maritime Academy, 7 I. Kanto Street, Klaipeda, LT-92123, Lithuania,
E-mail: v.sencila@lajm.lt, phone: +370 46397240
Abstract
Regardless of unified international requirements for maritime education and training, national MET
systems differ in academic level, content, duration of study programmes and consequence of school and
sea time during these programmes. The requirements for competencies of seafarers are set by the
international convention STCW 78 as amended in 2010, but the convention does not specify requirements
for levels of adequate education. Therefore, question “Should competent seafarer be educated and what
level of education is necessary?” rises again and again. Otherwise national MET systems of the EU
countries should be in compliance with legislation of European educational area. In this relation
European Qualifications Framework, adopted in 2008, could serve as a translation device between
different qualifications systems and their levels. The analysis of STCW 78 and European Qualifications
Framework reveals clear correspondence between levels of seafarers’ competence and adequate levels of
education.
Keywords: MET, seafarer, level of competence, level of education
Introduction
Regardless of unified international requirements for maritime education and training, great variety
of national MET systems has formed historically and it still exists.
The requirement for competences of seafarers are set by the International Convention on Standards
of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW 78) as amended in Manila in 2010 [12]
and for EU countries additionally requirements are set by Directive 2008/106/EC on the minimum level
of seafarers’ training [3]. The above mentioned Convention and the Directive do not set any requirements
for adequate levels of education for seafarers. Therefore, the question “Should competent seafarer be
educated, what level of education is sufficient?” rises again and again [1, 2].
National MET systems are linked and supervised by both national maritime administrations and
national educational authorities. Consequently, MET systems should be in compliance with the
requirements for seafarer’s professional competence and with the requirements for educational level as
well. The link “Competence level – Level of education” could be a key equivalence for MET system
harmonization with professional and educational requirements.
In 1999 the Bologna process was launched by 30 countries to create convergence between higher
education systems. The countries participants of Bologna process transformed their national higher
education systems to recognisable for common European area, the system of three sequential levels
(cycles) of higher education qualifications: “Short cycle (pre or entry level)-Bachelor-Master-Doctor”
[11].
The European labour market, as any other, cannot function effectively without common reference to
the recognition of qualifications. The need for European qualifications framework became obvious after
Lisbon treaty was signed [6]. The European Qualifications Framework was formally adopted in 2008 and
aimed to contribute to modernising education and training systems for better interrelationship of
education, training and employment [4].
The analysis of legislative requirements and recommendations for seafarers’ levels of competence
and adequate levels of education was performed; the conclusions and recommendations are presented in
the article.
Variety of national MET systems
National MET systems differ in academic level, duration and consequence of MET programmes
leading to unlimited certificate of competency [5, 9] and there is not common opinion about sufficient
level of education for marine officers. It is still unclear what level of education is adequate for
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