The Mining, Blue Economy, and Maritime Affairs Ministry has sent a request for sh.20 billion to the treasury for the revamping of the Bandari Maritime Academy.
Speaking at the Academy on Thursday during the Bandari Academy Strategic Plan launch, Maritime and Shipping Principal Secretary Shadrack Mwadime said the funds are to internationalize the institution.
“We want to convert it into a regional center of excellence and therefore going forward, we will be setting aside resources as a government to ensure that the kind of students we produce here are of the standard required internationally,” said PS Mwadime.
Also read: Our maritime certificates meet international standards, says PS Mwadime
Also speaking during the launch of the strategic plan, Bandari Maritime Academy Ag. Director CEO Francis Muraya said that the institution was looking at the ministry in terms of resources to expand the academy by opening several centers that will be key in ensuring students get employment as soon as they graduate.
“One of the most important ones is an Advanced Fire Fighting Centre (trains students about safety on the ship) and the other one is a Survival Training Centre,” said CEO Muraya.
The Maritime and Shipping PS said that this will also allow students from the academy access to international labor markets.
“For us to access the international labor market, the quality of our certificates must be as high as possible. Therefore, we are determined as a government to ensure the same,” said PS Mwadime.
“We are setting resources aside but we are also calling upon development partners to assist us to truly convert this center into a center of excellence in the next three to four years,” he added.
PS Mwadime said that the European Union (EU) had already expressed interest and that they were looking for more partners.
