There was much excitement on Wednesday this week at five schools in the greater Durban area when a brand new Grade 11 Maritime Economics textbook was distributed to learners by author Balungile Masuku, together with representatives from African Marine Solutions Group (AMSOL), the project sponsor.

The textbook is the second publication for passionate entrepreneur and maritime educator Mrs Masuku, who has partnered with Cape Town based publisher More Maximum Media to produce Grade 10, Grade 11 and Grade 12 Maritime Economics textbooks over a three year period. Maritime Economics learners and educators at Mowat Park High School in Durban
received their textbooks this week. “It is a well-known fact that there are few books available on this subject, especially for learners who wish to pursue a career in the maritime industry.

My experience of teaching Maritime Economics at high school level has shown me the challenges and constraints that exist in schools offering this subject,” notes Mrs Masuku, who has more than 12 years’ of experience in the maritime education space and identifies the challenges faced by many schools now offering this subject in KwaZulu Natal
and the Eastern Cape as lack of resources and qualified personnel, limited exposure to the maritime industry and a lack of maritime awareness in rural areas.

For AMSOL Managing Director Paul Maclons, sponsoring this important project brings life to the company’s purpose:

“As the leading South African marine solutions provider, we believe in the enormous leadership potential amongst our youth. We focus on developing a talent pipeline and nurturing maritime leaders of the future, and we know that the next generation of sea-going Captains, Engineers, Deck Officers, Electricians, Technical Superintendents, and other shore-side support specialists will use this textbook for their studies, and need to be empowered with good quality information to help their career journey come alive. Projects like this one support our goal.”

Textbook editor and publisher Colleen Jacka of More Maximum Media has been a project partner since 2015:

“Working with Mrs Masuku on this project was very rewarding and we are extremely pleased with the product that follows on from the Grade 10 Maritime Economics Textbook that was introduced in 2016. She has responded to a very real need to supply learning material to South African schools that have begun to see the opportunities for their learners in the maritime sector. We are excited about working together on the production of the Grade 12 textbook, which will be completed during the course of this year.”