A new future for maritime education
I think most of us regret the demise of the GCSE in Nautical Studies as we entered the 21st century. This valuable means for engaging school pupils and providing useful background and an introductory grounding into the industry was removed by the Department of Education(DoE), as it wasn’t deemed of use in terms of the numbers taking it. And with the introduction of examination league tables, there is currently no means for schools to provide educational input covering our industry.
This is set to change. London Nautical School, with the leadership of Jamie Bullar MBE is working to bring nautical education back into selected schools in England. With widespread support from the Merchant Navy Training Board, UK Chamber of Shipping, Maritime Skills Alliance and funding provided by the Conway Merchant Navy Trust, Jamie is embarking on a project to develop a BTEC qualification aimed at 14-16 year olds that will meet DoE league table requirements, and see him advise other schools and education authorities across the country. Related BTECs are also being planned for 16-18 year olds as well.
Jamie is at the stage of identifying as many secondary schools as possible that would be interested in offering the new BTEC, once it is available. It will be of interest to certain schools, and it will be up to any school as to whether they make this qualification available to their pupils. And that’s where you come in. Do you have a link with a secondary school – as a parent, family member, school governor, teacher/school staff contact? Do you think the school might have an interest in finding out about this forthcoming new qualification? If so, Jamie would be delighted to have this information so that he can liaise with the school and seek to involve them in the whole project. Jamie’s contact details are jbullar@nautical.lambeth.sch.uk . Similar work is also taking place in Scotland, and we will have an excellent means of doing likewise in Wales and Northern Ireland.
We can all play our part in ensuring that future generations have the opportunity to learn maritime education and to get it embedded into our secondary schools. Get in touch with Jamie.
For more information contact:
Head of MNTB
020 7417 2876