Marine graduates threaten ‘tough’ movement

Blaming alleged government negligence in establishing an institution dealing with job placements in foreign ocean-going vessels, in turn, allowing private recruiting agencies to impose “exorbitant” service charges, maritime academy graduates yesterday threatened to go for “tough” movements if they were not guaranteed employment at home and abroad.

“Many students spend at least Tk 15 to 16 lakh to complete their education under private institutions while those in public Tk 3 or 4 lakh,” said Imat Tanvir, who attained his bachelor’s degree in marine science two years ago.

“But there is no job guarantee,” he said at a human chain the graduates formed before the capital’s Jatiya Press Club.

India is ensuring jobs in foreign-flag ships for its 14,000 graduates every year. But in Bangladesh, at least 33 private recruiting agencies are handling all the job offers, charging a minimum of Tk 2 to 3 lakh, said Imat.

Among the job-offering countries, including Malaysia and Singapore, the Middle Eastern ones are currently not issuing visas, they said.

“Marine cadets, except those from Bangladesh, can travel and seek jobs in any country with their seafarer identity cards. But we can not do so if we fail to secure work visas,” added another graduate, Abdullah Al Mamun.

Every year 800 people are graduating, 300 from public and 500 from 18 private institutions, while there are only 88 relevant government posts, said Bangladesh Marine Academy graduate Shershah.

Source: The Daily Star