SWU Maritime Academy adopts regimental training

Having realized the huge demand presented by the global maritime sector for producing quality maritime cadets and officers, the South Western University’s Maritime Academy has seen the need to provide regimental training to their cadets.

“Utilizing a regimental system will instill discipline, build character and stronger leadership skills to our cadets. Trough providing high-quality education, we will produce the most sought after graduates thus help meet the ever-increasing demand of the global maritime industry and bridge the poverty cycle of our nation,” declared SWU chairman Andrew S. Aznar in a media briefing held recently.

SWU’s Maritime Academy has been in operation for years already but it was just last year that the administration decided to convert and follow a strict regimental program to better provide quality training and education to their students.

Their regimental program is patterned similarly to the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy, the country’s premiere maritime school’s training and educational system wherein cadets will be housed in one facility and will follow 24 hours for seven days a week strict supervision and rigid training under a faculty led by PMMA master mariners.

Aznar revealed in an interview that they are currently doing some linkaging procedures before they formally sign a memorandum of agreement with PMMA to officially become its sister school.

Believing that the program will become a viable way to bridge the worsening poverty cycle in the country, SWU Maritime Academy has also recently offered their “Study Now, Pay Later Program” wherein financially disadvantage cadets will be given a chance to avail of their four year regimental training.

The “Study Now, Pay Later Program” will be linking with the LGU, corporate sector, and other private and public initiatives to provide poor but deserving cadets with sponsorship grants to finance their study and pay for the P450, 000 four year program expenses that includes lodging, uniform, books, among others.

The scholars are expected to pay back this amount after acquiring the best high paying maritime jobs in the industry, which the academy assures them through linkages with various partners from the manning sector. They are also expected to sponsor new cadets in the future to sustain the program, stressed Aznar.

Right now, Aznar said that they have been able to bridge an agreement with the local governments of Cordova and Zamboanga Sibugay, who promised to send and sponsor 16 new students for this coming semester in June.

About P200 million estimated investments has been allocated to this segment in South Western University’s educational system and Aznar revealed that more focus will be given to this particular program in months to come as further plans will be materialized. This May, construction of the P30 million worth barracks or lodging facility for the cadets will be finished.

Currently, SWU Maritime Academy has 61 cadets that are already following the regimental program, while students from the former curriculum will continue with their existing system. The SWU Maritime Academy is offering two programs: Marine Engineering and Marine Transportation.

“We want to create an equal-opportunity platform to spearhead the movement in the educational sector in alleviating the societal problem of poverty in the country as our way of making significant contribution to nation-building and to also meet the global market demands,” Aznar pointed out.