Colombo International Nautical and Engineering College (CINEC CAMPUS) was conceived and launched by Master Mariner, Captain Ajith Peiris, shareholder and current Chairman and President of CINEC.
The philosophy behind this noble mission was to provide professional training to Sri Lankan seafarers to compete in international maritime job market.
From modest beginnings of just 24 maritime officer cadets in 1990, the campus now has an annual registration of 21,000 students in diversified fields of Higher Education, catering to faculties of Maritime Science, Marine Engineering and Technology, Management, Social Sciences and Humanities and Health Science. It is also the largest and only Maritime Educational Training Facility in Sri Lanka approved by the Directorate of Merchant Shipping in Sri Lanka that can award highest certificate of competency in Maritime higher education.
Giving direction and guidance in his role as Senior Consultant since July 2015 is Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe, Former Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy from 2009-2011 and our High Commissioner to Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands from 2011 to 2015.
Admiral Samarasinghe’s conviction that maritime training at all levels goes way beyond acquiring knowledge of the skill, has led high level of importance for leadership, competency, discipline, courage and responsibility in all forms of higher Education at CINEC all attributes which would prepare both seafarers and other academics for the high demands of a maritime profession and corporate and Industrial world.
BMD spoke with Admiral Samarasinghe on the launch and forward journey of the campus and his role of leadership and guidance in this seat of learning. Excerpts from the interview.
Q: The mismatch between our higher education and the required skills for our current job market is a major issue. How has your campus addressed this?
CINEC was launched with the objective of training officer cadets to ultimately become Ship Captains, Marine Chief Engineers and Electro Technical Officers. In addition, ratings and others were trained in high demand vocations to become welders, lathe men, fitters, electricians etc. at CINEC.
With sufficient years of experience at sea even a rating receives the opportunity to engage in appropriate training in their pursuance of becoming a captain or chief engineer.
The training required skills training, workshops and simulator training to ensure a hands – on practical training for our students before they boarded vessels, or join shore job market.
The expansion of the academy from modest beginnings to its current capacity required heavy funding for infrastructure development and securing qualified cadre of academic and professional staff.
CINEC having expanded to other disciplines of higher education has invested heavily on state-of-the-art ship and engine room simulators, firefighting and high voltage simulators and many science and IT laboratories. An indigenously constructed ship in campus and a functional Leo jet aircraft provides first hand seaman ship and ship husbandry training and aircraft maintenance training within CINEC.
Q: Do your students secure employment after training?
As the roll out of trained and qualified cadets and ratings from CINEC grew steadily, making an impact on the seafaring employment market, our recruits were highly sought after by international shipping companies purely on their merit, ability, skills discipline and personal qualities.
A career with the merchant marine with our training and qualifications, would place them at an attractive remuneration level with the capacity to earn a substantial foreign exchange.
All officer cadets who join CINEC are in fact guaranteed employment as we negotiate with global shipping companies to secure their first sea farer training which is required for the completion of their course. Very often the shipping company retain our cadet officers for employment in their shipping line, with high retention.
We also ensure that every student during their final year, is provided industrial training, experiences in internships, thus giving them valuable exposure to their prospective employers. In addition to making them successful graduates, to make them competent, and work ready, we provide them with mandatory training of soft skills, emphasizing on character building, leadership, proficiency in English, and extracurricular activities, supported by an exercise of psychometrics profiling as a guidance to their future.
CINEC also offers another unique opportunity for their students in providing inhouse Research and Development in innovation and invention. We are proud to be partners with three frontline organizations in Sri Lanka operating in the international market; MAS Holdings, Brandix Sri Lanka and Orange International. All three companies have established their R &D and training facility in our premises with a view to enhancing students’ knowledge for employment. This is a feature only our campus has at the moment.
Post graduate programs on offer at CINEC in Engineering, IT, Management and Maritime Businesses affiliated to British universities have further enhanced opportunities for knowledge development and provide an edge over others for employment.
Winning Presidential Export Development Award in the Higher Education sector in 2019 and many other National and International Quality Standard Awards has placed CINEC campus at a special position in the competitive environment.
Such valuable opportunities have today paved the way for high employability percentage, for CINEC graduates. CINEC has even arranged offshore on the job training and permanent employment opportunities exclusively for CINEC products thus making CINEC a unique institution.
Q: What is CINEC’s contribution towards building the nation’s economy by training a skilled workforce? Or have CINEC students left our shores to gain employment in foreign countries?
Annually CINEC has over 21,000 student registrations that will ultimately provide a skilled workforce to Sri Lanka’s industry. Having so far maintained 100% employability of their students, CINEC supports Sri Lanka’s national economy by preserving valuable foreign exchange from being spent abroad for higher education. CINEC students who are employed in foreign countries and CINEC trained seafarers serving multinational shipping companies remit their foreign currency remuneration in substantial amounts to Sri Lanka. This is a template that the national economy requires to pursue in developing and sustaining Sri Lanka as an education and Maritime hub in the region given the high literacy and good quality primary and secondary education, and our strategic location in the Indian ocean as an Island.
Q: Over the past nearly 30 years your institution has grown its curricular beyond Maritime training to include almost all other disciplines of learning. What does your campus offer students now?
Toady CINEC trains about 150 officer cadets annually, and about 150 to 200 ratings, in their basic training and continuously train all officers and ratings in all categories of competency in periodical engagements.
Since 2005 CINEC has lowered the gangway for other disciplines of Higher Education. Our curricular is now comprehensive and includes: engineering technology, IT, aviation, management, humanities/social sciences, English language, health science, law, hospitality retail marketing, tourism, Human Resources and Education.
All our degree courses have the stamp of approval from the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Ministry of Higher Education. Universities in USA, UK, Australia, and China have affiliations with CINEC to grant their respective undergraduate and post graduate degree programs with the entire program being conducted in Sri Lanka.
The diversity of opportunities ranging to approximately 200 different programs gives a tremendous advantage to our youth seeking higher education. This is a gateway to obtaining internationally recognized graduate qualifications without the heavy expenses of higher education in a foreign country with colossal amounts of foreign exchange being syphoned to these foreign universities. With our affiliations to foreign universities our campus is an ideal substitute for a foreign university education and prevents not only our hard-earned foreign exchange but also our precious youth’s brain drain to other countries.
Q: Does CINEC extend beyond our shores?
The National Maritime Academy of Fiji and Seychelles are now being managed by CINEC staff. We also offer training to Seychelles seafarers in Sri Lanka. Our proven high standard of training has convinced even the Sri Lanka Navy to train their officers and sailors in certain specialized areas at CINEC.
All training required to maintain high standard of quality and dedication by the International Maritime Organization and are audited periodically by this government regulatory authority of Directorate of Merchant Shipping.
Q: What is your overall responsibility and commitment at CINEC?
Unlike in any other corporate or manufacturing business of production or services, education of youth and young adults entails handling and enriching of human beings of different levels of breed, character, discipline, style, class, variety, form, intelligence and qualifications to a common standard of knowledge and skills of the chosen program.
Moulding of such human beings requires a high intensity engagement in multitude of delivery means and approaches and monitoring methodology to achieve the desired end goal of a well-educated human product with right competence and values.
Over the last 30 years CINEC has grown steadily and accomplished this noble vision, task and responsibility with true commitment towards the industry and the society at large with success thus earning and enjoying the trust and confidence of employers and parents who in turn radiate their acknowledgement to be absorbed by wider population stamping the unique CINEC legacy in higher education.
It is the task of “Team CINEC” to continue to maintain and improve this profile and legacy. I in my current capacity I am committed to support and work towards that vision to ensure CINEC grows efficiently to meet the future demands and challenges. bmd