‘Maritime jobs are here’

The students and administration at Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) have voiced confidence in the local employment market and its capacity to retain the institution’s graduates, rather than have them snatched up by international recruiting firms.

University Registrar Keisha Walker stated during a Gleaner Editors’ Forum at the newspaper’s North Street, Kingston offices last Wednesday, that this was demonstrated, notably, through the growing interest of the shipping and logistics industry, where final-year students usually get hired before completing their studies.

Tashoy Young, president of CMU’s Students’ Union, made it clear that she has no intentions of leaving her native island to supply international companies with her expertise.

“I believe that Jamaica has a lot to offer to the maritime university students. So, yes, there are jobs here and there are jobs worldwide also, but here in Jamaica is where I’ll be staying personally to build our country. So I’m quite excited,” the final-year shipping and logistics student said.

Professor Andrew Spencer, CMU’s president, indicated that the pupils of the 44-year-old institution were in high demand to cater to an industry that was constantly in need of skilled workers who can be seamlessly integrated into organisations.

“One of the proudest things about us, and we had to make messaging surround that, is that our graduates get really great reviews in the marketplace,” Spencer said.

80% employed within six months

He boasted that 80 per cent of the institution’s graduates often find employment within six months of graduation.

“That’s how open the industry is ... and the feedback we get from the industry on what our graduates do on the ground is not only related to what we do in the classroom and through teaching, it is about an ethos of discipline,” he added.

Spencer pointed out that the institution’s largest faculty was Shipping and Logistics, but its primary department was Marine and Nautical Studies, which has more than 200 students. Applied Technology and Engineering is the other faculty.

He reasoned that while it made practical sense that students from the core faculty would, for the most part, need to look elsewhere for employment, those from the Shipping and Logistics faculty were primarily being absorbed by the local market, and those who chose to go abroad were in the minority and were not forced to leave.

Davia Findlotor, final-year shipping and logistics student, shared with The Gleaner that she felt extremely equipped and job ready to take on the industry.

She pointed to an annual career fair organised by the university, the most recent being held in February, which gives students the opportunity to interact and network with industry players and to engage in on-the-spot interviews for potential future job placement.

“This would have allowed the students to be introduced to different companies that are related to the field that they are studying currently. So, we would have companies like Pepsi for logistics students ... Maritime Authority of Jamaica, the Port Authority, Airports Authority. There are many other companies coming in,” she said.

“And, for me, I would’ve done many interviews and I can say, they went really well and the feedback that we got from these companies and the questions that they asked us were related to our fields and we were able to answer that, which means that our lecturers are doing what they are supposed to be doing. We don’t just get the knowledge from them, but they give us practical experiences as well.

“Yes, the jobs are here in Jamaica, we see that for ourselves, and CMU is preparing us for them, and I feel prepared, I can say that for a fact.”

Young expressed a similar view, noting that the institution’s educators have given pupils “hands-on knowledge”, which essentially aided in increasing student satisfaction levels.

Spencer stated that, since taking over as president of the university in September 2022, he has not encountered any difficulties with placing students.

This, he said, was “simply because our students are uniquely trained in niche spaces, but also with particular foundational skills.”

He pointed out that CMU has signed 17 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) within the last 18 months.

“One of the ones that excite me the most is the German Ship Repair Jamaica [Limited] (GSRJ) MoU. What that one allows us to do is to have individuals, not only CMU grads or students, go over there but [it] is looking at a community approach in pulling individuals out of the community, giving them skills to be able to do some of the low-level jobs at the German ship repair,” he said.

Spencer went on to say that the CMU’s welding shop contributed significantly to the construction of many of the parts required to remove some of the ships from the water for repair and that the university was in favour of identifying and assisting disenfranchised youths to put them through CMU programmes that will eventually lead to an apprenticeship with GSRJ and employment. He said five pupils were involved in the operations currently, and that in the past the first cohort also consisted of five students.

He continued that he hoped that such an initiative would become a national priority where the next time around 20 individuals can be targeted.

Additional MoUs that were inked over the past year, Spencer stated, include ones with the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, Kingston Freeport Terminal Limited (KFTL), and Carnival Cruise Lines. In the United States, the Jackson State University and the Delaware State University. They have also been working with Shanghai Maritime University in Asia; the École Nationale Supérieure Maritime – the French National Maritime Academy in Europe; and numerous other institutions, including some in regional nations such as Guyana and St Lucia.

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com