First Assistant Life Support Technician Course held in China with Examination in Chinese

Jan. 15, 2013 - PRLog -- Singapore - KBA Training Centre (KBAT) has conducted the first ever International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) Assistant Life Support Technician (http://www.kbatraining.org/courses/Commercial-Diving/IMCA/IMCA-Assistant-Life-Support-Technician) (ALST) course in Shekou, Shenzen, China for Diving Engineering Co / D & R Subsea on the 14 – 24 Dec 2012.

Diving Engineering Co / D & R Subsea have recently purchased a nine-man saturation diving system and have embarked on a training programmme for their diving personnel. Twelve personnel attended the course, which was conducted in English by KBAT Head of Diving Training Mr. Alan Rhodes. The majority of the delegates spoke and understood basic English and all came from a diving background, however during the course a translator has assisted with some translation of technical content into Chinese.  

KBAT organised a translation of the final exam into Simplified Chinese to facilitate those with language difficulties. The students were given two examination papers; English and Chinese respectively. In this way they were able to read the exam in Chinese but answer in English, this proved to be an excellent and very well accepted means of evaluating the delegates at the end of the course.

“This was the first time we have attempted foreign delegates taking the exam in this way.  They were all very pleased to see the exam in Chinese. The delegates were 90% university graduates, and demonstrated very good uptake of both the theory and practical requirements during the training period. However sitting the exam only in English would have proved challenging for some, whereas reading the questions in the native language then answering in the standard IMCA Trainee exam format enabled each delegate to clearly understand the question / answer. The success of the training program and examination method was seen in the course exam results with all 12 delegates gaining high passes.  This has proven to be a great result and sets a bench mark for future overseas courses where English is not the first language.” commented Mr. Alan Rhodes.

During the training program the delegates conducted various operational aspects and practical sessions on the companies recently purchased saturation system, which will be the system they will be working on while offshore. This proved to be an excellent foundation for their training and using the actual system they will be working with has provided them a level of confidence and knowledge for future operations.

Mr. Alex Sun, Saturation System Manager of D&R Subsea said, “We had tons of worries before KBAT’s instructor came to us, as few of our students speak or read English fluently. On the other side, KBAT was only given very short notice period to prepare the course overall. However, KBAT’s arrangements and performance answered all questions. All our trainees passed at the first attempt with an average score around 94 marks, highest mark being 98%. Only a professional training organisation can contribute such a successful result in such a complex environment.”

For further information regarding course fees, scheduled dates and in-company package, please contact KBA Group Head Office at Tel: +65 6542 4984, email us at divingadmin@kbassociates.org or visit our website at www.kbatraining.org