Yamaha’s US Marine Business Unit announced this month that the company has added three new schools under its Technical School Partnership (TSP) program, bringing the national total to 120 across the US.

The three new institutions include Hart County High School, Hartwell, Georgia; Monroe Career and Technical Institute, Bartonsville, Pennsylvania; and Suffolk County Community College, Selden, New York.

Developed in 2015, Yamaha’s TSP program aims to support marine technician training through a certified curriculum, Yamaha systems access and product donations used in the classroom for hands-on training.

“We understand the importance of providing exciting educational opportunities for students by offering programs such as marine technician training,” said Yamaha US Marine Business Unit senior marine training coordinator, Kenyon Ward. “Yamaha’s hands-on training curriculum gives students real-world experiences and further broadens the education opportunities schools can bring to the table.”

Yamaha-sponsored curricula available to technical schools for use in the classroom include its “Introduction to Outboard Systems” (ITOS) textbook materials and hands-on learning experiences for students who wish to begin a career as a marine industry technician. Students who successfully complete the course receive course certification, allowing them to enroll in Yamaha’s new Maintenance Certification Program (MCP) based on the 20, 100-, 300-, 500- and 1,000-hour maintenance procedures for Yamaha outboards.

MCP students will leave the Yamaha Technical School Partner with certified maintenance competencies that prepare them to be immediately profitable in Yamaha dealership service departments. Yamaha dealerships can take them on as apprentices or full-time technicians to help them continue to develop their skills.