Wednesday, May 14, 2008 Foreign firm opens training school at Clark Polytechnic
CLARK FREEPORT -- A Norwegian firm formally opened its training school at the Clark Polytechnic for mess boys, and cooks and specialized welding programs on May 9, it was announced.
Clark Polytechnic executive director Jose Vladimir Sampang said the Norwegian Marine Services Training Institute Corporation (NMSTIC) has signed an agreement with Clark Development Corporation (CDC) on May 9 on the launching of the three training programs for unemployed Filipinos.
Sampang, who signed the agreement in behalf of CDC president Liberato Laus, with Maria Rune, president of NMSTIC, for the official operation of the training school at Clark Polytechnic, a subsidiary of CDC.
Sampang said students who will complete the programs will be sent to Norwegian ships based in Norway.
NMSTIC classes started on May 12, he added.
NMSTIC vice president Erling Rune said training for mess boys would usually run for 22 days while training for cooks, and precision/underwater welding programs will run for one month.
Rune said NMSTIC only charges P1,500 as tuition. The fee is inclusive of food, room accommodation, and materials to be used during the training.
He said the cooks and mess boys are on a high demand in the shipping industry in Norway and nearby European countries. He noted that in Norway alone, more than 500 ships need cooks and mess boys.
Construction work is ongoing to finish the training center's facilities which includes an air-conditioned classroom, complete with LCD projector and speech laboratory; simulation room for mess boys; and state-of-the-art kitchen.
Also being built at the Clark Polytechnic, site of the former Wagner High School during the American days, is NMSTIC's dormitory which can accommodate 90 students. Rune, however, stressed that the training center will initially house 45 students in the dormitory.
Rune also stressed that the students will not be allowed to leave the premises of Clark Polytechnic, a subsidiary of the state-owned CDC.
"Unless the student has an important reason like death in the family, then we allow them to go home to their families," said Rune noting that the temporary "confinement" is part of their mental training since cooks and mess boys stay on board a ship for six months straight or more.
"If they (students) cannot stay inside the school for less than a month then they are not mentally prepared for the job," he said.
Rune said NMSTIC is manned by a team of professional faculty led by American Victor Torres, dean; Rune, mess boy instructor; and Swiss national Oliver Kunzli, head chef instructor. (RGN)
