News & Views - The TMI-BITS DLC Newsletter
July 2005 Issue 03/2005
From The Editor's Desk...
- Capt P S Barve
Course Co-ordinator
(L to R) Dr. M. P. Pinto, former Secy to GOI, Mr. Rohet Tolani, & Dr. N. P. Tolani at the '1000 th Diploma'
function
We at this Institute take a special pride in bringing out this commemorative issue.
With this issue, we proudly announce the award of the Diploma in Nautical Sciences by
Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani to 1000 th student who successfully
completed the Structured Shipboard Training Programme.
Looking back, the journey through has been an emotional one and satisfying too. The
Distance Learning process was an alien field for us in the Maritime Industry. BITS was
a Godsend opportunity for us to learn the process. Once we were put on the right track,
the Distance Learning Centre with the help of all our well-wishers developed it to the
satisfaction of all. In the process, we also evolved many methods, which have helped
our students largely.
All other distance learning programmes start and end on predetermined dates. We convinced
BITS the need for changing over to “student-centric” semesters and they agreed
readily even though they had to change their rules and regulations considerably. Tests
and examinations on board with open book system was another innovation. Our students
would have liked to reduce the number of modules and tasks but we felt that if students
did not get the underpinning knowledge they would not understand the practical tasks.
A group of graduate students enjoying a rare moment together.
Today, we are happy to cross the important milestone of 1000 th student passing the
programme . We are also happy that a large number of our diploma holders are coming back
to continue their studies, which eventually would give them a Degree in Nautical Sciences
to be awarded by BITS. The degree courses have also evolved spontaneously. Besides providing
the professional knowledge in detail, we introduced the basic management subjects and
an internship programme which engages the student in a project ashore and requires submission
of project report approved by the Institute. Our first graduate is due to pass out in
the next few months.
Our progress so far would not have been possible but for the blessings of Directorate
General of Shipping, continuous guidance of BITS and the unstinted support of the industry
and the Company Training Officers. We sincerely hope that the Maritime Industry and our
well wishers continue to support us in our cause to spread quality education in maritime
field in days to come.
It may come as a surprise for some of you to learn that the programme in the initial
stages was actually opposed on the ground ” that the cadets need no studies at
sea and they should preferably be engaged in chipping, painting and such very important
work on deck to make them physically proficient !!
The Industry, and even worse, some of the professional master mariners at sea, even
now take this view and the cadets unfortunately are treated as the cheapest labour available on board. They fail to realise that the same person is to man the bridge as third officer
in a matter of months after completing his cadetship.
At this stage, a peep back into the history of this Institute may not be out of place.
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Mr. Rohet Tolani, Director of TEF, addressing the invities during the function organised to launch
the BS Programme.
Immediately after the coming into force of the STCW 95 Convention
the question as to how to implement the SSTP was bothering Capt P S Barve, who had retired
as a Nautical Advisor to the Govt of India, a few years before. Dr N P Tolani, the doyen
of the Tolani group of Companies, suggested that Capt P S Barve approach BITS for their
advice. It was this idea that brought Capt Barve, Mr Ashok Srivastava, Director, Tolani
Shipping Co and Dr K R V Subramaniam of BITS together and conceived the idea of SSTP
through a distance learning programme.
BITS not only agreed to design the programme and award the qualifying students a “Diploma
in Nautical Sciences” but also agreed to present the course to the DGS for their
approval. The programme was presented on 16 th Jan 1997. The Industry needed some convincing
but once that hurdle was through, the DGS granted approval in principal to develop the
programme for further presentation.
BITS, appointed Capt P S Barve as their Adjunct Professor on 06 Feb ’97, with
a view to coordinate the activities connected with the Programme. They acknowledged that
even if they knew the process of distance learning, they had very little expertise in
nautical sciences. They, therefore, suggested that domain experts be selected and provided
training in Distance learning by BITS.
Accordingly, the following Domain Persons from the industry were invited to attend
a workshop conducted by BITS at Pilani, to understand the process of writing distance
learning modules:
Capt. T. K. Joseph, Capt S S Rewari(since deceased), Capt N S Mainkar, Capt A Achuthan,
Capt Anuj Chopra, Capt M C Yadav, Capt S S Choudhari, Capt S K Sinha, Capt S K Thapliyal,
Capt Y Chabra, Capt C L Dube, Capt K S D Mistree, Capt N K Basak, Capt A K Prasad, Capt
V Krishnan, Capt K Vivekanand, Capt M S Kalra, Capt V Subramaniam (since deceased) and
Capt H S Oberoi (since deceased). Capt S S Naphade, Nautical Advisor to GOI and Capt
H Subramaniam, Principal of the LBS CAMSAR visited Pilani later.
The workshop was conducted over three days from 11 Apr ’97. At the workshop,
Domain Persons were guided on the process used in preparing the courseware, delivery
method, and evaluation system. In order to make the principles of design of the course
and the text clearer domain persons were provided with excellent and informative material
by BITS. Copies of the ‘Distance Education at a Glance’ produced
by the College of Engineering, University of Idaho were also provided.
Next, the Domain Persons were formed into four groups to decide and determine the lesson
plan for the courseware in Navigation, Cargo Handling and Stowage, Controlling Operation
of Ships and Merchant Shipping. Once the course plan was finalised, individual domain
persons were allotted topics to write the modules.
The plan envisaged that a cadet would write one diary every month during the period
of his training on board. This was later renamed ‘Technical Journal’. DG
Shipping, in the meanwhile, designed the Cadet Record Book in co-operation with the Industry
under the Chairmanship of Capt R D Kohli and edited by Capt. Anuj Chopra. On 16 Oct ’97,
a team of experts led by Dr KRV Subramaniam, Dean, Distance Learning Divisions of BITS,
gave a final presentation to DG Shipping, in which the modules written and vetted by
BITS were submitted for approval.
The DG Shipping on 27 Nov ’97, after a detailed deliberation on the presentation
given, accorded the approval to TEF and BITS to conduct the Structured Shipboard Training
Programme through Distance Learning Process. It was indicated to DGS that the students
shall be awarded the Diploma in Nautical Sciences on completion of SSTP and in turn the
DGS permitted such cadets to appear for 2 nd Mate COC with only 24 months of sea service.
A section of the dignitaries attending the function organised to launch the BS Programme.
TEF established the ‘TEF - BITS Distance Learning Centre’ on
their premises of Tolani College of Commerce at Andheri(East) to conduct SSTP under
the stewardship of Capt P S Barve and appointed him as the Course Co-ordinator. Subsequently,
the programme was launched on 01 Apr ’98 with the initial enrolment of 68 cadets.
It was initially planned that:
- (a) Evaluation of the students should be carried out at monthly intervals.
- (b) Cadets should be required to present their Technical Journals every month for
evaluation by the external faculty.
- (c) One faculty be assigned for evaluation of 15 cadets.
Accordingly, the Institute appointed about 27 Adjunct Faculties in stages, who were
Master Mariners/Extra Masters and experts from the Maritime Industry. Each of them was
assigned 15 cadets, for whom these faculties were to act as mentor/counsellor. However,
as we proceeded along, like in any other venture, teething problems started surfacing.
We soon realised that it was not possible to adhere to the system of calendar-centric
semester as:
- (a) Cadets complete their pre sea training at different times.
- (b) Dates of joining by cadets depend on availability of ships.
- (c) Cadets also may have to get down from the ship on leave or other such causing
interruptions.
Hence, BITS conceded to our request to change the semester pattern to student-centric
semesters with effect from Apr ’99.
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Another problem faced was regarding the system of evaluation done by Adjunct Faculty.
The concept of Adjunct Faculty was a sound one and it would have provided a personal
contact to the cadets with the experts in the industry. However, this arrangement did
not work satisfactorily as all the faculties were preoccupied with their own work/business
and hence were not in a position to spare adequate time. Hence, it was decided that the
Institute should have in house faculty to evaluate the Technical Journals and accordingly
the system of adjunct faculties was replaced with in-house faculty.
Today, the Institute has 11 Master Mariners and one Chief Engineer, apart from the
Course Co-odinator as faculty who are extensively involved in evaluation of Technical
Journals / tests and development/revision of courseware issued to cadets.
(L to R) Dr. N. P. Tolani, Mr. A. K. Srivastava & Capt. K. S. Varadkar at the '1000 th Diploma'
function
Customer feedback has played an important role in continuous improvement of the course
content, delivery method and evaluation of the programme. Because of the continuous
interaction with CTO’s, it was brought to our notice that the programme was high
on academic contents and cadets were not getting enough time on board to complete the
assignments. Hence, with a view to reduce the theoretical study on board, the system
of writing selected modules at home while on leave was introduced. Today, a large number
of students take advantage of this system and they are theoretically well prepared to
do the practical tasks when they join the ship.
Maritime manpower is a floating population and many master mariners who joined this
Institute as faculty and Domain Persons then left for greener pastures after making a
valuable contribution towards the development of the programme. We indeed place on record
our sincere thanks to :
Capt A Achuthan, Capt A K Ranade(since deceased), Capt V K Barve, Capt R N Surve, Capt
A J Oliveira, Capt. Kini, Capt U S Oak, Capt A K Rattani, Capt. Rolfe Alveyn, Capt Rahul
Pradhan, Capt Rakesh Pradhan, Capt Peter Fernandez, Capt M X Corera, Capt S S Shinde,
Capt G Fernandez, Capt. A K Jhingan, Capt P Srivastava, Capt CJV D’cruz, who were
on our roll as faculty and Capt S Y Limaye, Mr A K Chakrabarti, Capt P M Sarma(since
deceased), Dr R S Aurora, Mr D N Vartak, Prof N Vazirani, Mr Anil V Tilak, Mr M K Subramanian
as Domain Persons at one time or the other.
Taking into account that many shipping companies/ship managers sign on /off their cadets
from Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata and the cadets find it difficult to report to Mumbai
for enrolment, counselling formalities, doing remedial work etc. To cater to this need
and conceding to the request of shipping companies/ship managers, counsellors were appointed
at Delhi and Chennai on 01 Jun 99. This was subsequently followed by appointment of counsellors
at Kolkata also. Today, a number of our students visit outstation counsellors and make
use of facilities available there.
(L to R) Capt. P. S. Barve, Mr. Rohet Tolani, Mrs. T. Anandi Reejhsighani & Mr. Chandru Tolani
at the'1000 th Diploma' function
The need was felt to supplement the courseware issued to students with additional resource
material. Hence, we planned to tap the vast reserve of updated information/texts of the
Nautical Institute of the United Kingdom. Accordingly, TEF concluded an agreement on
18 March 2000 to print eight of their publications (books) in India exclusively for the
use of our students. Subsequently, similar agreement was reached with Mr J K Dhar, the
then Vice Principal of LBS CAMSAR, to print his book ‘Basic Marine Engineering
Drawing - Marine Power Plant’ for issuing to our students. Undoubtedly, this greatly
enhanced the quality and the contents of the courseware material issued to our students.
Keeping in line with the industry standards, the Institute put in place Quality Management
System on 01 August 2000. On 05 October 2000, Indian Register Quality Systems awarded
the ISO 9001 – 1994 certification to the Quality Management System of the Institute.
This was further upgraded to ISO 9001-2000 Standards by Indian Register Quality System
on 29 May 03.
With a view to enhance the scope of the existing Diploma programme, it was proposed
to conduct the degree programme through distance learning mode. Accordingly, the first
informal meeting was held in LBS CAMSAR on 18 Dec 98 to plan the Degree Programme. This
was followed by another meeting on 26 Aug 99 under the Chairmanship of the Nautical Advisor
to GOI. Subsequently, BS Course was launched on 26 June 2000.
Dr. S. Venkateswaran (2 nd from left) answering a query during the meeting held to finalise
the MS Programme. Others seated (from L to R) are Dr. N. P. Tolani, Capt. P. S. Barve & Dr. B.
R. Natarajan.
In the meanwhile, the Distance Learning Programme of BITS, conducted by TEF became
so popular that the Institute started receiving inquiries from qualified Master Mariners/Chief
Engineers keen to pursue their education, who were otherwise not eligible for the Degree
Programme. It was therefore, planned to conduct a Master’s Programme, for which
such candidates would be eligible by virtue of their experience in the industry.
Accordingly, a meeting of all the industry experts was held on 15 Dec ’01 at Royal
Bombay Yacht Club, Apollo Bunder, Mumbai to discuss and finalise the course structure
including the syllabus of the proposed Post Graduate Programme in Marine Management to
be conducted by TEF in collaboration with BITS. The meeting was attended by Dr S Venketeswaran,
and other dignitaries and ended on a hopeful note. But nothing much came out of it and
our ambitious plan to go into post graduation stage came to a nought.
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