Ship jobs pay Tk 1.5 million, marine academy salaries below Tk 100,000, teachers unavailable
Graphics: Agamir Somoy
Working aboard a ship at sea can earn a person more than Tk 1.5 million a month. Yet teaching at a marine academy on land pays less than Tk 100,000. This enormous pay gap has left Chattogram Marine Academy, one of the country’s leading maritime educational institutions, struggling to recruit teachers.
Despite repeated recruitment notices, the academy has been unable to find qualified instructors. Experienced teachers have also been leaving the institution one after another. As a result, the academy is facing challenges in maintaining its standards.
In a country filled with unemployed people, a regular job advertisement attracts hundreds of thousands of young applicants. The situation at the Marine Academy, however, is quite the opposite.
The main reason is that a general academic degree is not sufficient to become a teacher at the academy. Teaching there requires professional qualifications such as Master Mariner or Chief Engineer, along with experience working aboard seagoing vessels.
Those who obtain these qualifications are in high demand internationally. They receive salaries in dollars. As a result, highly qualified and experienced mariners are leaving their jobs at the Marine Academy.
Captain Anam Chowdhury, president of the Bangladesh Merchant Marine Officers Association, said the government invests several hundred thousand taka over three years in the education of a marine cadet. Their monthly salary exceeds Tk 500,000 at the very beginning of their careers.
Why is the government so reluctant to invest in the teachers who train these cadets?
Anam Chowdhury fears that Chattogram Marine Academy will face serious risks if the teacher shortage is not resolved quickly.
First, the quality of education will deteriorate drastically. Second, there is a risk of losing the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) “White List” status or global recognition.
He said the Philippines faced a similar crisis in 2012. It took the country nine years to recover.
If the academy loses its White List status, cadets graduating from the institution will no longer have opportunities to work on foreign vessels.
According to the staffing structure of Chattogram Marine Academy, there are 20 positions exclusively for professional instructors. However, only half of these positions are currently filled.
Despite repeated recruitment notices for vacant positions, the academy has failed to recruit enough personnel. The latest recruitment notice in 2023 also received no response.
The few instructors currently working at the academy have to handle the entire teaching workload. This is disrupting both theoretical and practical training for cadets.
Marine Academy alumni members say Bangladesh could face serious consequences if the teacher shortage remains unresolved before the upcoming IMO audit team visit.
The main reason behind the recruitment crisis is straightforward.
When a Master Mariner or Chief Engineer works on a commercial vessel, their monthly salary exceeds Tk 1.5 million, equivalent to $12,000 to $15,000. However, joining the Marine Academy means receiving a salary far below Tk 100,000 under the government pay scale.
Mariners are unwilling to leave lucrative and comfortable jobs aboard ships earning Tk 1.5 million a month to teach at a local academy.
Not only are new instructors reluctant to join, but those who previously joined are also leaving.
Statistics show that approximately 35 experienced instructors have left the academy since 2002. Many returned to shipboard jobs with significantly higher salaries. Others joined prestigious foreign institutions for lucrative pay.
One of them is Captain Mohammad Shamsul Mannan. He joined Chattogram Marine Academy as a tutor in 2022. After working there for a year, he resigned due to inadequate salary and benefits and moved to London.
He said, “As a son of Chattogram, I wanted to remain in teaching. I spent a year teaching by drawing on my savings because I did not receive the promised salary and benefits. Disappointed, I left the country. You cannot survive on emotions alone. I am now working as a senior tutor at Fleetwood Nautical College at Lancaster University in London. My monthly salary alone is £4,000 (Tk 680,000 in Bangladeshi currency), in addition to other benefits. I am living there with my family.”
This raises the question of how instructors managed to work at the academy before 2002.
At the time, special allowances or an attractive “Marine Allowance” were available for academy instructors. Under various British or IMO projects, they received respectable salaries based on international pay scales or close to them.
Along with their salaries, their social status and other benefits were so attractive that experienced mariners willingly joined the teaching profession despite earning somewhat less than they would at sea.
However, complications began in February 2022. The crisis started when the Divisional Controller of Accounts in Chattogram stopped the special allowance through an official letter.
Instructors began leaving the academy one after another. Despite numerous efforts by the Marine Academy and its alumni, the special allowance could not be reinstated.
A case was subsequently filed with the Administrative Tribunal. The case remains pending.
Marine Academy Commandant Captain Kazi A. B. M. Shamim said, “At several instructor recruitment board meetings, I saw only one candidate interviewed for four positions. Although we recommended hiring that sole candidate, he did not join because he had no hope of an improved salary structure. If this continues, the academy will not be able to maintain international standards. We will all face serious consequences.”
Under the requirements of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and domestic laws, marine cadet training must be conducted exclusively by skilled and certified maritime professionals.
The IMO regularly audits the standards of maritime academies. Therefore, a shortage of qualified instructors will put both the academy and mariners at risk.
Mariners have recommended introducing a separate and special pay scale for Marine Academy instructors.
