Maritime Education in the Philippines

This report establishes that the institutionalization and widespread use of the 3-1 scheme was fundamentally a function of maximizing tuition revenue and mitigating institutional risk for the large private MHEI sector. STCW compliance, while an undeniable regulatory driver, served primarily as the necessary, yet pretextual, justification for structural reform that prioritized financial viability over the more pedagogically rigorous quality assurance mechanisms embedded in the 2-1-1 model. The widespread acceptance of this structural compromise was greatly facilitated by the alignment of interests within the CHED regulatory body, particularly the Technical Panel for Maritime Education (TPME).