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Ship operators have largely contracted out the supply of seafarer labour to crewing agencies recruiting in developing world countries. This case study reports on the quality of seafarer training and on the local enforcement of international training standards in a developing country which has become a major supplier of outsourced seafarer labour. Maritime education and training institutions (METs) cannot compete freely to supply quality training at competitive prices because of the market-fixing activities of the crewing agencies who demand kickbacks from the METs. Other pressures on training quality include the existence of papermill METs (issuing certificates without training) and a developed market in forged certificates. This poses a considerable challenge for the national institutions charged with overseeing examinations and inspecting METs. The struggle to achieve effective governance of the training of outsourced labour in the shipping industry may arguably be viewed as a critical case for other globalizing industries.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of Sage Publications. Show less

Vocational education and training (VET) concerns the cultivation and development of specific skills and competencies, in addition to broad underpinning knowledge relating to paid employment. VET assessment is, therefore, designed to determine the extent to which a trainee has effectively acquired the knowledge, skills, and competencies required by employers. Across a range of occupations, such testing has traditionally comprised a portfolio of practical on-the-job assessments, oral tests and laboratory tasks. In recent years vocational training assessment has increasingly adopted new computer-based assessment (CBA) methods and, as a consequence, consideration of the scope of computer-based assessments and their appropriateness for vocational training evaluation is timely. This paper examines the growing adoption of CBA within the safety-critical field of maritime education and training (MET), particularly, in relation to the summative assessment of seafarers for licensing purposes. It discusses the implications for validity, reliability and security.

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