The Governance of Inclusive Maritime Higher Education in the Philippines

Maritime activities, including sea transport, fishing, and marine tourism are closely tied to the lives of many Filipinos for the Philippines being archipelagic and consist of 7,100 islands. It is therefore natural for many Filipinos to pursue a maritime career by attending maritime education and training (MET) programs [1]. Filipinos used to be the leading supplier of seafarers in the global market, however in recent years, China, Russia and other seafarer-supplying countries are pushing up their ranks. A global estimate in the demand of seafarers is 92,000 in 2020 to 147, 500 in 2025 [2]. However, in order to build the maximum capacity of Filipino seafarers, the need to provide inclusive MET as well as the reduction of economic and geographical inequalities among the different regions. This paper compares selected MET institutions’ access by numbers in different administrative regions and presents preliminary analysis on the influence of governance in terms of accessibility to MET.