AS IT caters to a growing number of students, the Davao Merchant Marine Academy (DMMA) College of Southern Philippines (DMMACSP), formerly known as Davao Merchant Marine Academy, broke ground for an additional dormitory facility to cater to scholars under its Norwegian Shipowners Association (NSA) Philippine Cadetship Program.
“The administration decided to invest in a new dormitory facility, making it as part of its commitment to continually institute improvements and to provide better accommodation to the future great seafarers of the world.” Gloria Uriarte, college president of DMMACSP, said.
Uriarte said the two-story dormitory facility is an important milestone of the institution as this project took considerable time from planning to approval.
The new building, according to Uriarte, will replace the original NSA cadet dormitory, which is relatively old and was built in 2006 to house the first cohort of NSA cadets. The new dorm is well-designed and modern.
It is expected that the establishment of the dormitory will be done by August this year.
Scholarship
Students of DMMACSP, which is affiliated with the Maritime Higher Educational Institution (MHEI) of the NSA, are given access to the NSA Philippine Cadetship Program.
"We have had this partnership since 2006, and we like to increase and to work closely with you and we are very happy to have your cooperation," Captain Knut Bentzrod, deputy director of Norwegian Training Center-Manila, said.
To date, there are about 772 scholars who have benefitted from this program.
Qualified scholars are provided free tuition and miscellaneous fees, free books, and free board and lodging. Scholars are also given instructional materials, free training and free uniforms.
Bentzrod said only two schools have been granted this program in the Philippines. The NSA scholarship program is exclusive to DMMACSP in Mindanao.
DMMACSP joined the NSA Philippine Cadetship Program in 2006, offering only the Bachelor of Science in Maritime Transportation program to deserving and qualified students but a year after, they added the Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering.
Qualified for the scholarship are Filipino citizens and a Senior High School graduate or a graduating student.
DMMACSP is now accepting applications for the Online Entrance Examinations for the Academic Year 2022-2023. Online examination, which will be only 40 minutes, will close on August 15, 2022.
Quality facilities
THE DMMACSP, founded in October 1993, has been providing quality maritime education to students from Mindanao and the whole country. Its quality education is backed with its world-class facilities – the five-story Castañeda Building, two three-story Maritime Buildings for Marine Transportation and Marine Engineering Departments that houses training laboratory spaces, a two-story Deck and Engine Simulator Building equipped with the latest modern equipment and training workstations, IMO-standard swimming pool constructed with Replica of Seamanship Deck, and two-story Culinary Arts Center Building.
The school has also achieved world-class status as a result of its accreditation by the following international accreditation bodies for maritime institutions: Det Norske Veritas (DNV); Norwegian Maritime Directorate Evaluation, and Philippine Maritime Education and Training Foundation (PMF), the Philippine counterpart of the UK-based International Maritime Training Trust (IMTT).
The DMMACSP is the only Maritime Institution in Davao Region to be listed on the Commission on Higher Education's white list of schools that have "completely fulfilled STCW '95 requirements for submission to the International Maritime Organization (IMO)," as indicated by Commission on Higher Education Memorandum Order No. 34.
Students at DMMACSP are granted opportunities to grow in the industry through the school’s quality programs and world-class facilities. (PR)