MANILA – Qualified locals and foreigners have until Aug. 31 this year to apply for the 44-week Meteorologists Training Course (MTC) which State weather agency Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) will conduct at its head office in Metro Manila.
Such deadline will give PAGASA time to screen applicants for MTC which will commence on Oct. 20 this year, noted the agency’s weather specialist Encar Borjal who’s among contact persons for the training course.
“Applicants aiming to attend MTC must first meet basic entrance requirements then pass the qualifying examination for this course,” she said, describing PAGASA’s screening process.
According to PAGASA, its employees and other interested parties can apply to attend MTC.
The basic entrance requirements for all MTC applicants are they must not be over 35 years old, must be physically and mentally fit as well as hold bachelor’s degrees in either engineering, mathematics, physics, other physical sciences or other fields, PAGASA noted, however.
PAGASA likewise prefers applicants who already attended either its Meteorological Technicians Training Course or Meteorological Observers Training Course.
The MTC application form is available for downloading from PAGASA’s website www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph.
An MTC application pack must include the applicants’ dulyaccomplished application form, either original or certified true copy (CTC) of transcript of records and certificate of eligibility if there’s any.
“Our preliminary screening will show who among the applicants can take the MTC qualifying examination,” Borjal said.
PAGASA will inform applicants concerned when and where this agency will hold such examination, she continued.
“Those who submitted CTCs of their transcripts must bring on examination day their original copies of these school records so we can check documents they submitted,” she said.
She said the examination’s results will help PAGASA identify applicants who’ll attend MTC.
The successful applicants will comprise the 27th batch of MTC trainees, she noted.
Applicants can either submit respective application packs in person at PAGASA’s head office or send these by mail, Borjal continued.
“They can also email their application packs to me ate_borjal@yahoo.com,” she said.
PAGASA isn’t charging application fees for MTC, however, she clarified.
MTC is among training courses at PAGASA which gained distinction in 1968 for becoming Regional Meteorological Training Centre for the South West Pacific or Region V of World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
According to PAGASA, MTC covers atmosphere science compulsory topics including climatology as well as physical, dynamic and synoptic meteorology.
MTC also covers most elective fields of specialization like aeronautical and agricultural meteorology as well as weather forecasting, PAGASA noted.
PAGASA said its MTC offering is in accordance with Education and Training Personnel in Meteorology and Operational Hydrology guidelines (WMO No. 258, 4th edition).
The offering is also in line with the Manual on the Implementation of Education and Training Standards in Meteorology and Hydrology (WMO No. 1083), PAGASA noted.
For MTC, PAGASA requires applicants who are mathematics graduates to have at least 10 units in physics and chemistry.
Graduates of physics and other physical sciences must have units in chemistry and mathematics up to integral calculus, PAGASA also said.
MTC applicants from other fields must have units in chemistry, mathematics up to integral calculus and at least 10 units in physics, PAGASA said further.
Aside from featuring whole-day sessions, Borjal said theforthcoming MTC will have its theoretical and practical phases.
“The course’s participants will also have study tours and undergo on-the-job training mainly at PAGASA’s forecasting and hydrology units,” she noted.
MTC’s 27th batch will graduate on Sept. 30 next year, said Borjal.
She said the local graduates will receive their trainingcertificates while those from abroad will get their grade cards as required by respective countries.
About five nationals from Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu already expressed interest in attending the 27th MTC, said Borjal.
Nationals from Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Brunei participated in the 26th MTC from November 2011 to October 2012, she added.