The Bahamas notices a sharp rise in the number of females enrolling into its Cadet Corps programme
The BMA is delighted to announce that the popularity of its Maritime Cadet Corps continues unabated, despite the restrictions imposed by COVID-19 throughout much of the past year. More significant still is the high number of female cadets signing up for the three-year programme.
The number of females joining the corps underlines the success of World Maritime Day 2019’s theme of ‘Empowering Women in the Maritime Community’. The split to date in students enrolling for the 2020/2022 course stands at 45% female and 55% male. It is also clear evidence that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 – Gender Equality (Achieve Gender Equality and Empower all Women and Girls) – is gaining traction in The Bahamas. And it is not simply the quantity of girls that is significant, as 65% of the cadets winning outstanding awards at the end of the 2019/2020 academic year were female, demonstrating a higher level of interest in the programme and outperforming their male counterparts.
Capacity building for the future is a BMA mandate and a key goal for our Corporate Social Responsibility and The Bahamas Maritime Cadet Corps (BMCC) plays a vital role in our efforts to achieve that. We are all particularly pleased to see that female students are signing up in high numbers and are more than demonstrating their competence and capability to be employed in this sector.
In memory of
BMCC Assistant Coordinator – Leroy Whylly
Retired Chief Petty Officer Leroy Whylly (RBDF) was with the Bahamas Maritime Cadet Corps from its inception and began as an instructor. In 2017 he was elevated to the position of Assistant Coordinator while still serving as an instructor. He died suddenly on February 16, 2020.
Former RBDF Marine Eugene Weir
Former RBDF Marine Eugene Weir joined the Bahamas Maritime Cadet Corps as an instructor in December 2015 and served as programme coordinator and instructor at the Inagua All-age School until the time of his death on November 27, 2020.
