Professional Skipper Magazine from VIP Publications

AND QUALIFICATIONS COMPETENCY, LICENCES BY SHARON CUZENS H ow do you know that someone has the skills and knowledge they need to do a good job? If you're out in rough seas, you depend on your crew and workmates. Holding a seafarer's licence tells only part of the story. You need to know what that means: that the licence holder can deliver – that they are 'competent'. A working group comprising Maritime New Zealand, industry training organisation Competenz, training providers and industry representatives has just finished developing a competency framework for non-STCW (Standards of Training and Certification of Watchkeepers) Certificates of Competency on the new Qualifications and Operational Limits framework. "A competency is the end product of a training activity that makes someone valuable to their employer, by being able to carry out a task at a level benchmarked by industry," says Competenz industry leadership manager Andrew Brownlee. Competencies for four entry level licences have been approved so far by the Director of Maritime NZ: • Skipper Restricted Limits (SRL) • Qualified Deck Crew (QDC) • Marine Engineer Class 6 (MEC6) • Master Yacht <24m near coastal. "This…is a critical first step, as the lower grade licences have the largest number of licence holders," says Louise Deehan- Owen, lecturer at the NZ Maritime School. Louise says the process of defining the competencies has involved strong debate between members of the working party tasked with developing the framework. "At times several members may have felt they had quite divergent views, but this was a more robust process than Maritime NZ picking members who would just roll over and agree with each other!" The Maritime Transport Association has also been part of the process. MTA's Margaret Wind says, "I think Maritime New Zealand has got it right. Everyone has had the opportunity to be involved and their views taken into account." Maritime NZ principal Maritime advisor John Mansell says that from the beginning, it was agreed that working with Competenz would be key to the process, as it is now Competenz's role to take the competency framework and, in partnership with industry and providers, to develop qualifications to add to the New Zealand Qualifications framework. Andrew Brownlee says Competenz saw its involvement as an extension of its partnership with Maritime NZ. "A key part of our role was co-ordinating and ensuring that industry representatives and training providers were part of the process. "We took a co-ordinating role to ensure expertise of a wide range of individuals sat at the table. The critical thing was that industry was able to come to the table in a positive way to give input. This has long-term impacts on the industry, so people are committed to making it work." The competency framework is a set of measures that will show whether or not people can carry out tasks to an agreed standard. It sets out a licence's functional requirements, the areas of knowledge to be demonstrated, the ways in which they can be demonstrated, and how these can be evaluated. As an example, a functional requirement for the SRL ticket is 66 Professional Skipper September/October 2012 to Navigate a vessel at the management level, under which sit tasks such as Plan and conduct a vessel passage. Under this a seafarer must be able to show they can, for example, use plotting instruments correctly, including dividers, plotter and parallel rule. Competency may be shown in a number of different ways, which John Mansell says is a real benefit. "The package for SRL for example, includes a taskbook, onboard assessment, and oral examination, with no particular requirement for candidates to attend an approved training course. "QDC, the entry level certificate, is now entirely taskbook- based with assessment on a vessel and an oral exam. Seatime requirements for SRL and MEC6 have been significantly reduced, and assessment will be via a comprehensive, evidence- based task book and oral exam. This will enable people to enter the industry more quickly and more competently than the present rules allow." Margaret Wind agrees that the consolidated number of tickets and the competency framework will open up the industry. "It's oriented towards a career pathway and allows easier entry, with assessment via the taskbook system." We've seen a really good start to Maritime NZ sitting down with industry and making it work. The difference between Maritime NZ's licensing regime, which grants seafarers a licence to operate at a certain level, and the qualifications system administered by NZQA, was something the working party had to come to grips with. "It means real choice for seafarers," says Margaret. For Competenz, having an agreed competency framework means further work can now be done on developing qualifications that align with the licensing system. "Maritime NZ's process of reviewing the licensing regime closely aligns with the targeted review of NZQA Maritime qualifications, from QDC right through to the top of the scale," says Andrew Brownlee. Next steps: Competencies for Skipper Coastal/Offshore <24m will be added, while the working group facilitated by Competenz continues to develop qualifications based on the framework. "We wanted to work with industry to complete the competency work so training providers could develop detailed training material in time for courses next year, when the amended rules are expected to take effect," says John Mansell. "This is one of the central tenets of the new QOL framework, and we are pleased that it came in on-schedule." Competenz's Andrew Brownlee has noticed the positive effect the work has had in terms of the relationship between Maritime NZ and industry. "We've seen a really good start to Maritime NZ sitting down with industry and making it work. It's a journey, and this is the first part."

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