In brief:
- The 73rd and 74th Seacare Quality Rating Training (SQRT) was held from 17 August to 11 September 2020 at Singapore (Nantong) International Maritime Institute (SNIMI).
- The four-week training programme, as with previous SQRTs, is conducted physically with safe distancing measures in place.
- Ratings found SNIMI’s lessons about Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) most useful.
- Female ratings continue to be a common sight in SQRT 73 and 74. Before, SQRT 71 and 72 welcomed three female ratings in total; one of whom performed as good as her male colleagues in the final assessment.
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With the global COVID-19 situation in China gradually improving, Singapore (Nantong) International Maritime Institute (SNIMI) held its second round of physical classes.
From 17 August to 11 September 2020, SNIMI opened its doors to 30 ratings for the 73rd and 74th Seacare Quality Rating Training (SQRT) course. The four-week training programme, conducted in Shanghai, continued to adopt safe management measures such as safe-distancing and mandatory wearing of face masks during lessons to ensure the safety of all students.
As with the recent cohort of SQRT 71 and 72, the trend of female ratings participation continues to be seen with two female ratings in SQRT 73. Zhang Zhi Wen was particularly enthusiastic about the training. The 21-year-old youth who hails from Jiangsu, has not worked onboard a vessel yet and is looking forward to applying his newly acquired skills into practical use.
One particular issue the ratings faced with regards to learning English was the pronunciation, since many of them come from different provinces of China and possess distinct local accents. The SNIMI trainers had the ratings undergo consistent reading of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) during the four weeks. This not only helped them to improve their pronunciation but also improved their confidence to use English in their course of work.
Among the best takeaway from the course were lessons on how to use Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) effectively during work on board. Ratings found this useful as they did not know much about PPE prior to the course.
The SQRT course, an initiative by the SOS, under the Seacare Maritime Training Scheme (SMTS) does more than just train ratings to communicate effectively in the English language so as to minimise misunderstanding and miscommunication with other team members while onboard vessels, but it also equips ratings with essential skills such as basic watchkeeping requirements and safety aspects of handling seamanship tasks.
The next upcoming SQRT courses will be held in Nantong in October 2020.
