The Philippine-Japan Manning Consultative Council (PJMCC) jointly with the other member associations of the Joint Manning Group will conduct the Maritime School Assessment Program (MSAP) today. This year, a total of 81 schools from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, with about a total of 17,000 deck and engine students, confirmed participation to the exercise.

The MSAP annual written assessment is intended for all second year BSMT and BSMARE students. The top student performers can expect the following possible grants/benefits:

• Financial incentive from government through the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). As an example, OWWA allocated funds in order to assist top MSAP passers in 2007 and 2008 to defray expenses during their 3rd year of maritime education.
• Three (3) months accredited shipboard training onboard the T/S Kapitan Felix Oca with a monthly stipend of USD60.00 for 120 top MSAP passers who are accepted to the IMMAJ-PJMCC Cadetship Training Program (CTP).
• Nine (9) months fully subsidized shipboard training on board a Japanese vessel with a monthly stipend of USD235.00 for those who qualified in Item 2 above;

Additionally, the Manning Associations, who are part of JMG and whose member companies are the end-users of the graduates from Maritime Schools, have committed to give preference to MSAP qualifiers when recruiting additional cadets for their ship owner principals.