The freight-forwarding training academy of Global Maritime Legal Solutions (GMLS) has celebrated another successful cohort with a graduation ceremony for 31 students in Boksburg on Tuesday.
Most of the students received a Fiata Diploma in Freight Forwarding while a smaller group received a Diploma in Supply Chain Management (SCM), endorsed by the same international forwarding association.
GMLS managing director Elwyn Pitt said, for the SCM qualification, students also had to do a mini dissertation, with most of the course work focused on authorized economic operator (AEO) requirements.
He said the level of immersion in industry issues such as AEO, was indicative of the two 12-month course’s internationally recognised standard, regularly vetted and validated by Fiata.
“We present all our course work to Fiata, who submits it to an external panel of experts before approving it,” Pitt said.
The last time Fiata validated the academy’s course work was in August, vouching for GMLS staying up to date with a constantly changing cargo sector in a post-Covid era, prone to regular disruption and the need for adequate freight-forwarding response.
“That’s what impressed me so much about these students,” said Pitt.
“To do these courses you need to have at least five years’ experience in the industry and the research required has to be done after hours.”
Undaunted by daily work responsibilities, the students showed fastidious commitment.
“I really have to commend them for their commitment,” said Pitt. “We achieved an overall course attendance figure of 97%, well above what was expected.”
GMLS founder, Dr Mark Goodger, was on hand to present students with their qualifications and reiterated Pitt’s sentiments about maintaining the highest standards possible to sustain Fiata’s endorsement through course-work validation.
Himself a graduate of a Fiata course in Canada in 1983, Goodger said: “What you’re getting from us is quality of education that is equal to, if not better than, international standards.”
He said the academy’s vision had always been one of creating minds that were sharp enough to excel anywhere in the freight-forwarding space, anywhere in the world.
An alumnus of the academy, Carmen Mertens, currently serving as national sales manager of Röhlig-Grindrod, further endorsed Goodger’s speech about GMLS graduates often being trusted as company representatives for diverse markets such as Mauritius, Europe, Australia, Qatar and other countries in the Middle East.
“These courses help to enhance the service we deliver in a customer-centric organisation,” she said.
“It turns learners into leaders.”
