Friday 16th December 2011
I can't believe that we are nearly at the end of another year....or that I have now been here at The NAFC Marine Centre for 3 years. It is true...time flies when you're having fun!
Its been a tough year for us all for many reasons and there have been some real highs and lows, not least losing our friend and colleague Jim Thomas, but we are ending the year on a high.
We are expanding our Merchant Navy Deck Officer Cadet programme with a second intake of deck cadets in February 2012 to meet an increasing demand from the shipping industry and sponsors for quality trainees from Scotland. Shetland School of Nautical Studies (SSNS) has been considering this for some time and the decision has been made to take an additional deck cadets onto the programme starting on 20 February 2012.
The expansion is being driven partly by the excellent reputation that SSNS has gained in the short time since the first Shetland cadets started their training in 2004, and partly by UK educational funding changes which have made it more attractive for UK shipping companies to recruit and train their future officers in Scotland in some cases.
Shipping companies and sponsors with cadets from Shetland on their vessels have commented on several occasions about their quality, and are always asking for more recruits to fill their vacancies as they find them to be excellent seafarers, and hardworking and reliable employees.
A recent audit by the MCA of our provision found no areas of non-compliance and made no recommendations. One comment was that we "...have excellent quality systems and processes which are clearly being followed in all areas".
We are currently working hard on our budget submission for next year which is very challenging in the current financial climate we are all finding ourselves in and this will be submitted to the Shetland islands Council Economic Development Unit very early in January.
There are many Government reforms in the pipeline at the moment but we are currently in the process of responding to the "College Regionalisation" paper which is looking for colleges to work much more closely together and hopefully be able to make efficiencies wherever possible.
Next year is likely to see a major change in how Further Education is funded across Scotland and we await to hear how this is likely to affect us and our students.
Next year also sees a local election and so a new council will be in place from May 2012...which, in turn, will mean a new Board of trustees for The NAFC Marine Centre.
At our recent Board AGM it was recognised that The NAFC Marine Centre is in a strong position to meet these challenges as we are following our strategic priorities and reducing our reliance on local funding, supporting local industry through applied and appropriate training, research, development and consultancy.
All the very best for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
David