12th November 2024
South Devon College prides itself on its partnerships and collaborative networks, both nationally and internationally, and has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with KWater, the national water company for South Korea.
The objective of the MoU is to collaborate in the delivery of a Leisure Marine Technician Operative training programme in South Korea, consisting of course development and the exchange of information.
The MoU was signed by Mr Dal-Sik Woo, President of KWater, alongside Mr Hyunju Ahnm General Manager of KWater, and Mr Beomkyu Lee, Assistant Manager of KWater.
Representing South Devon College was Matthew Harbour, Vice Principal; Steve Caunter, Assistant Principal; Adrian Bevin, Curriculum Head for Technology; and Paul Singer, Business and Qualification Development Coordinator.
The MoU has been held with our Korea partners since 2017 – previously it was with EduMarine (a subsidiary of KWater), but this new signing is now directly with KWater.
The training collaboration is due to the rapid expansion of South Korea’s leisure marine industry and the need to facilitate licences to meet that growth. The main focus is on training staff from the South Korean marine sector to further improve their own teaching and training practice through quality marine training academies, which in turn will benefit their students’ experiences, whilst recognising cultural differences in South Korea.
Since 2017 the collaboration between South Devon College and the Korean partners has successfully delivered many training programmes for their marine engineering technician operatives and there is now a framework in place to move forward for the future, working towards a licence to practice for marine engineers and formalising the process.
The Korean visitors were given a tour of the world-class facilities at South Devon College’s Marine Academy at Noss Marina, which is recognised as a centre of excellence for both on and off the water marine training, including marine engineering, boatbuilding and marina and boat yard operations, together with sailing and powerboat licence courses.
They met with our apprentices and students and were given first-hand experience of boatyard training operations and how the industry works in the UK.
Mr Dal-Sik Woo, President of KWater with Matthew Harbour, Vice Principal at South Devon College
Paul Singer, Business and Qualification Developer, said: “It was a pleasure to welcome our South Korean colleagues back to the college and have the opportunity to update and refresh this exciting, long-term programme.
“Being able to showcase not just our own facilities but also the innovative and forward-looking business partners that we work with, including Premier Marinas, Princess Motor Yacht Sales and ACUA Ocean, meant that they returned home with fresh ideas about how to further enhance their offer.”
As well as managing the country’s fast emerging leisure marine sector, that started out with four marinas in 2009 and now numbers 43, KWater deals in the construction, operation, and management of facilities of water resources in South Korea, including metropolitan and industrial waterworks and renewable energy facilities.
Steve Caunter, Assistant Principal at South Devon College, said: “Re-establishing our international relationship with South Korea through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding was a moment of real excitement and progress.
“This recent initiative reflects our commitment to supporting colleagues from South Korea as they further develop their marine and associated technical training programs.”
