NOTA MAKLUMAT DAN PANDUAN MERIN MARINE INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE NOTE   NMPM 1/99

GUIDELINES FOR ACCREDITATION OF TRAINING INSTITUTIONS OFFERING APPROVED COURSES TO SEAMEN

1.     PURPOSE.
 

1.1    The Marine Department has identified several ways of improving the certification of seamen program. One of the ways is an increased emphasis on formal training through Marine Department's approved courses and accreditation of training institutions for conducting training of the approved courses.

1.2    This Guidelines provides guidance to training institutions concerning:

(a)    application for establishment and accreditation of training institution;
(b)    application for establishment of branch of training institution;
(c)    application procedures for accreditation of a training institution to conduct an approved course;
(d)    required administrative procedures and record keeping for course;
(e)    Marine Department accreditation procedures to ensure the courses are taught in accordance with the approved course and along the established guidelines; and
(f)    renewal procedures.

2.    ESTABLISHMENT OF TRAINING INSTITUTION

2.1    Application for establishment of Training Institution

(a)    Any person or corporation intending to establish -

(i)    a training institution for the purpose of training seamen to serve on ships;
(ii)    a scheme, division or a faculty in its existing training institution for the purpose of training seamen to serve on ships; or
(iii)    a branch or additional campus of an approved training institution for the purpose of training seamen to serve on ships,

(b)    The application for new establishment of training institution shall be submitted with the following –

(i)    proposals as to the objective and reasons for establishment of the training institution;
(ii)    location of the training institution with detailed drawing;
(iii)    design drawing of lecture, laboratory, demonstration and practical rooms or areas;
(iv)    other facilities such as simulator, survival equipment, radar, engines, etc.;
(v)    list of instructors or lecturers with their qualifications and experiences;
(vi)    list of reference materials already available for use by students, instructors and lecturers; and
(vii)    projected intake of students for the next five years.

(c)    The application by existing training institution intending to establish branch or other campus - shall be submitted with the following –
(i)    proposals as to the objective and reasons for establishment of the branch or other campus;
(ii)    location of the branch or other campus with detailed drawing;
(iii)    design drawing of lecture, laboratory, demonstration and practical rooms or areas;
(iv)    other facilities such as simulator, survival equipment, radar, engines, etc.;
(v)    list of instructors or lecturers for the branch or other campus with their qualifications and experiences;
(vi)    list of reference materials already available at the branch or other campus for use by students, instructors and lecturers; and
(vii)    projected intake of students at the branch or other campus for the next five years.

(a)    The Marine Department will conduct an assessment of the application and evaluating all the documentation submitted.
(b)    A visit to the proposed location and physical evaluation will be made on the premise, location, equipment, reference material and supporting facilities.
(c)    A report will be prepared for the decision of the Government.

3.    APPROVED COURSES AND NEW COURSE.

3.1     Definition:

(a)    An approved course means a course that has been evaluated by the Marine Department and the syllabi, course contents and duration has been developed;
(b)    A new course means a course that has not been approved by the Marine Department.

(a)    if the course is required by regulations (e.g. fire prevention and fire fighting, medical first aid, etc.);
(b)    if the course is to be a substitute for a Marine Department examination or assessment; or
(c)    if the course is to be a substitute for a portion of the sea service required for obtaining a certification.

4.    APPLICATION FOR ACCREDITATION OF AN APPROVED COURSE.

4.1     Requesting Accreditation of an approved course.

(a)    Training Institutions.

A training institution desiring to have an accreditation of an approved course by the Marine Department must forward a request to the Director-General at Marine Department Headquarters The request must meet the requirements specified in the model course outline in enclosure (1).

(b)    International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Model Course Format.
 
The model course outline contained in enclosure (1) was developed using the IMO model course format. Any variations from the model shall be justified in the covering letter.

(a)    Any training institution or organisation who wished or intend to offer a course to a seaman whether as part of a requirement under paragraph 3.2 above or a new initiative and has a bearing on the safety of navigation, safety of life or protection of marine environment with regard to controlling discharges from ships, must forward an application as specified in the model course outline in enclosure 1.

(b)    The application is to include syllabus of any similar course that has been conducted elsewhere.
 

(a)    Approved Syllabi.

Approved courses must be taught from an approved syllabi and curriculum. Changes to the approved syllabi must be forwarded to the Director-General for evaluation and approval.

 
The Marine Department must be notified of any changes to the number or replacement of instructors. The notification of acceptance to such changes shall be made through the office of the Seamen Affairs and Port Division.


(b)    Records.

 
A training facility offering a Marine Department approved course and has been accredited must maintain a file at the training facility for at least five years after the end of each student's enrolment. The file must contain the student's examinations, a report of practical tests administered, and a record of classroom attendance. If the accreditation is given for more than one location for a course, then the records may be maintained at one central location identified in the accreditation package.


(c)    New Training Site.

 
Review for accreditation of a new training site for an approved course is done by the Director of Seamen Affairs and Port Division. See also application for setting up a branch or other campus in paragraph 2.1.


(d)    Course Completion Certificates.

 
Course completion certificates must contain the signature of the approved course instructor/director or equivalent, the name of the course, the name of the training institution and the date of completion. The format for the certificate shall be approved by the Marine Department.

6.    Marine Department Accreditation and Audits.

6.1    Purpose of Marine Department Accreditation.

The Marine Department considers accreditation of training programs to be of critical importance in ensuring compliance with the standards of competence and ensuring that seafarers are provided training that meets at least the minimum standards requirements. Accreditation audits verify that stipulations of the Marine Department’s Standards of Competence and the Rules are followed, and that only accepted instructors teach the approved course.

Three types of accreditation for a course will be used:

(i)    Minimum standards accreditation

This is a preliminary audit of a course submitted to the Marine Department for accreditation. The documentation submitted will be audited and assessed and initial accreditation may be given based on minimum standards so that the course may be started.


(ii)    Full accreditation

Once a course is given the initial accreditation with minimum standards, the course may be started and progress and during this time the officers of the Marine Department will be conducting full auditing processes. This may involved sitting in the course together with the candidates, visiting the lecturers and instructors, visiting the sites of demonstration and simulations, checking the equipment and inspecting the course materials of the instructors and lecturers. Course corrections and observations may be introduced in order for the course to meet the standards of competence. Once the auditing for the full accreditation have been completed, a report will be prepared for the Marine Department and also for the training institution if deemed necessary.


(iii)    Annual accreditation

The full accreditation of a course means that the course have met with all the requirements of the Rules and the standards of competence established by the Marine Department and the International Maritime Organisation. In order for the standards to be maintained consistently throughout the times, annual auditing will be done on any of the approved courses. The types of auditing will be any of those mentioned in paragraph (c) below .

There are three types of audits: announced, unannounced and customer survey. An announced audit may be conducted either with or without prior notification. The purpose of an announced audit is to review the records and to monitor a course with the knowledge of school personnel. An unannounced audit is conducted when officers from the Marine Department, attend the course anonymously. A customer survey audit is conducted by officers of the Marine Department who interview applicants when a certificate of completion from an approved course is submitted with a license application.

All accreditation audits are followed-up by a letter discussing the results of the audit. If an announced audit is conducted, the results will be discussed with training institution personnel prior to the auditors departing the training institution.
 

7.1     Period of Approval.

(i)    Initial accreditation approvals are effective for a period of one year. Within that period of one year the training institution should obtain full accreditation and if no attempt is made to obtain full accreditation, then the initial accreditation will lapse.
(ii)    Full accreditation approvals are effective for five year subject to annual accreditation.
(iii)    Subsequent renewal of full accreditation may be granted subject to a written request to Director-General of Marine Department and upon conditions that he may imposed.

A request for the renewal of the accreditation of an approved course should be forwarded to the Marine Department at least 90 days before the current approval expires. Courses requested for renewal of the accreditation shall be in the same format as original submittal. To facilitate the renewal process, all changes should be highlighted. If there have been no changes since the last annual auditing, a statement to the effect that the curriculum, instructors and facilities are the same should accompany the submittal.

When a training institution with an existing approved course request a renewal of accreditation, Marine Department Officers will visit the training institution as part of their auditing and note their findings in the forwarding letter to Director-General.
 
 
 
 
 
ENCLOSURE 1

INTRODUCTION:

The course curriculum package must include the following:

This section provides an overview of the purpose, nature, and individual components of the course.

Student/teacher ratio: State the student/teacher ratio and discuss the organisation's policy for circumstances when more than one instructor will be present during any of the lessons.

Instructors.
A list of instructors with a description of their experience, background and qualifications to demonstrate they have the capability to impart the required information to the students. Instructors should have experience in teaching or have attended a course in instruction techniques. In addition, the instructor must hold a valid Marine Department document or certificate appropriate to the course(s) being taught or have experience specific to the subject(s) being taught.

Teaching facilities and equipment.
Facility: The address and a description of the facility at which the training will be held.

Course equipment: A description of the equipment that will be used during the course. This includes all equipment to be used during hands-on training and/or testing, and any simulators or simulation programs to be used. If a simulator or simulation program is to be used, include technical specifications and brochures provided by the manufacturer.

Teaching aids.
Visual aids: Copies of all visual aids and a discussion of how audio-visual and other aids will be used during the training course, and which performance objectives they will impact. This information may be a part of the curriculum documentation that discusses the make up of the lesson plans.

Textbooks: Copies of all student handouts, homework assignments, workbooks, and a bibliography of the student textbooks to be used. The Marine Department may ask for copies of textbooks it does not have access to, and will return the texts after the course has been audited.
 

DETAILED TEACHING SYLLABUS:

The Detailed Teaching Syllabus is written in learning objectives format in which the objective describes what the student must do to demonstrate that the specific knowledge or skill has been learned. References should be made against the learning objectives to indicate which publications and teaching aids the instructor may use when preparing and presenting the course material. The syllabus shall include the total length of each subject area in hours. See the sample of teaching syllabus at the end of this enclosure.
 

COURSE SCHEDULE:

The course schedule shall include the length of each lesson and indicate whether the lesson is a classroom lecture, practical demonstration, simulator exercise or examination. Each subject matter in the course schedule is prefaced by a number that corresponds to the subject area listed in the Detailed Teaching Syllabus and Course Outline. For example, all lessons prefaced by "8" in the course schedule directly relates to the Planning and Carrying Out a voyage subject area listed in the Detailed Teaching Syllabus and Course Outline.
 

COURSE OUTLINE:

The course outline is a summary of the syllabus by subject area with the number of hours for each lecture, practical demonstrations, or simulation program. This shows the focus of the course while highlighting how the course meets IMO and Marine Department time requirements.
 

INSTRUCTOR MANUAL:

The instructor's manual provides specific guidance on teaching strategies and techniques used during course instruction. The manual shall address the presentation strategies for each lesson identified in the course schedule.
 

EXAMINATION AND ASSESSMENT:

Method of examination: An explanation shall be included of how the students' performance will be evaluated throughout the course. Include whichever is applicable:

Written examinations: Copies of all written examinations, the grading procedure to be used, frequency of revision, and what will be considered a passing mark.

Practical demonstrations: Detailed descriptions of all practical or simulator examinations, tests, or exercises that describe the situation presented to the student; what the students must do to successfully complete each test; and how each student's performance will be evaluated and recorded. Provide a separate checklist to evaluate each practical examination and what is considered a passing mark.

Note: Instructors shall not assist students in any way during the evaluation process.

Determination of final grade. A discussion of how the instructor(s) will determine final grades by proportioning written and practical examination marks as appropriate.

Re-test procedures: A description of the training institution's policy on re-tests of failed examinations.
 
 

COURSE CRITIQUE: Student course evaluation form(s) are a necessary method by which students are given the opportunity to provide feedback to the training institution on the suitability of the course.
 
 

The detailed teaching syllabus has been written in learning-objective format in which the objective describes what the trainee must do to demonstrate that the specific knowledge or skill has been transferred.

All objectives are understood to be prefixed by the words: "the expected learning outcome is that the trainee -------------------------"

In order to assist the instructor references are shown against the learning objectives to indicate IMO references and publications and teaching aids, which the instructor may wish to use when preparing and presenting the course material. The material listed in the course framework has been used to structure the detailed teaching syllabus in particular, Teaching aids (indicated by A) and IMO references (indicated by R) will provide valuable information to instructors.

The abbreviations used are:

App.: appendix
p.,pp.: page, pages
Para.: paragraph
Reg.: regulation

1 Review of basic principles (2 hours)