Maritime education in Rauma has reached the 125-year milestone, but our course is to the future
By Riku Anttila
The maritime education in Rauma traces its roots to the year 1880 and so it is celebrating 125 years of service this year. The Nautical School of Rauma was first located at various addresses around the town and it moved in 1900 into the new purpose-built premises, where the Rauma Maritime Museum is located nowadays.
In 1969 maritime education continued in the harbour when the new larger building was taken into use. Vocational training for ratings was started in 1970. Until the year 1995 the Maritime college of Rauma was a state-owned school. Nowadays maritime education is a part of Rauma Vocational College, which is a multidisciplinary vocational college , maintained by the City of Rauma.
Rauma in south-western Finland was founded in 1442 and it is the third-oldest town in Finland. Today Rauma is a busy town with 37 000 inhabitants founded combining historic buildings, long cultural heritage, modern industries and services, an expanding port and a wide-ranging education.
An internationally recognised and modern education opens channels to challenging, versatile and mobile work.
Besides old traditions the maritime education in Rauma Vocational College Maritime Department offers students modern education, which complies with the international demands. All training programs and modular courses arranged by the Rauma Vocational College have been fitted to the frames created by IMO and are based on STCW 95 Convention and national legislation. The external auditing and internationally recognised contents of studies guarantee the quality of training and continuous development.
The first step in the studies is to obtain a certificate to stand watch alone. After that the students can take a Vocational Qualification in Seafaring choosing one of the four different study programmes: Deck and Engine Repairing, Electrical Operation, Watch Officers or Watch Engineers.
The duration of the programmes is three years and students can become repairers, ship's electricians, watch officers or watch engineers according to the specialization field chosen. In addition to these, a vocational qualification or part of it can also be taken as a competence-based examination.
Practical on-the-job training on board at different levels of training varying from 20 to 40 study weeks is a crucial part of the degree. To evaluate competence before graduation every student shall give a demonstration of his or her practical skills. Vocational Qualification in Seafaring leads to a Certificate of Competence, which is approved by the maritime authorities. Qualification provides also general eligibility for further studies in higher education.
Vocational College of Rauma Maritime Department has a yearly basis of approximately 250 maritime students, who come from around Finland. In Rauma Vocational College it also is possible to study vocational qualification in logistics. From the Department of Tourism, Catering and Home Economics you can get qualification for ships’ waiters, waitresses, cooks and stewards or other jobs in the shipping world and tourism industry.
Good equipment and well-performing network of experts
Rauma Vocational College Maritime Department has an exhaustive infrastructure. There you can find different workshops, a wide selection of technical appliances and simulators. Students have also access to two training ships m/s Fanny and m/s Hakuni. Fanny sails frequently in the coastal traffic and on the Baltic Sea. She is fitted with modern navigational, engine control and radio equipment. Hakuni is mostly used to train and evaluate students’ skills at the port and on the coast. Maritime Department has also its own hall of residence for 124 students and a hostel for 30 participants in modular courses.
During the anniversary a new steamer system will be taken to use. Also course activities in the new safety training station with a life raft derrick and a modern lifeboat for 50 people will start in August 2005. As a fine support from economic life Rauma Vocational College Maritime Department has received an anchor and mooring winch appliance, sponsored by Rolls-Royce Rauma factory.
The Maritime Department of Rauma Vocational College has totally 30 teachers, course instructors and other members of staff. In addition to this the school has a good network of external instructors and specialists. It is also in a close cooperation with Satakunta Polytechnic Maritime Management in Rauma and many other national and international partners.
New training methods
Rauma Vocational College Maritime Department is putting a great emphasis on safety matters and protection of the marine environment. It also invests a lot in training students’ communicative and language skills, because it is important to open the door to the wide international opportunities for the students. That is one reason why Rauma Vocational College has been a trailblazer in e-learning and networking activities. E-learning includes computer based training, web courses, teaching and tutoring in the web and different development projects. It also offers good opportunities for collaboration with national and international organisations in the field of maritime training and web-based learning.
To uphold old traditions Maritime Department has every year together with maritime schools from the Åland Islands taken part on sail training onboard traditional sailing ships.
Lifelong learning
The Maritime Department of Rauma Vocational College also offers a wide range of different adult education programmes, competence based qualifications, domestic trade training and STCW - modular and refresher courses for professional seafarers. Included are for example different safety related courses, first aid and health care on board and maritime radio communication courses. In addition to this the Maritime Department also produces tailor-made training for associations, authorities, companies, the owners of pleasure boats and other institutions around the Finland.
The number of trainees has varied annually between 600 – 1000 persons. Courses are mostly arranged in Finnish but one of the future goals is to be able to offer more education in Swedish and English.
The largest part of Finland's export and import are transported by sea. There will thus always be a demand for seafarers with experience of operating in difficult home waters with archipelagos and in ice. Due to the character of seafaring, employment can also be found worldwide, where the demand of welltrained seafarers is continuous and even increasing. Even though the training focuses on a career at sea, many students also find jobs ashore. At the present there is a shortfall in the supply of engineers and electricians even aboard Finnish ships.
The number of applicants to maritime studies in Rauma has remained quite steady year after year. There has also been quite steady demand for further education courses, competence based qualifications and domestic trade training.
That is why the Maritime Department of Rauma Vocational College is looking ahead with confidence and will navigate and steer reliably to the future.
