African countries to harmonise training for aviation personnel
Aviation Training Organisations (ATOs) in Africa have said they will harmonise their training to address the inadequacy of technical personnel and increase their contributions to the development of the sector worldwide. Ahead of the planned harmonization, stakeholders in the aviation industry have canvassed for all the aviation training centres on the continent to come under […]
Aviation Training Organisations (ATOs) in Africa have said they will harmonise their training to address the inadequacy of technical personnel and increase their contributions to the development of the sector worldwide.
Ahead of the planned harmonization, stakeholders in the aviation industry have canvassed for all the aviation training centres on the continent to come under the African Aviation Training Organisations (AATO) for certification.
This emerged at the 29th AATO Council Meeting symposium and 10th year anniversary of the organisations held in Abuja on Thursday with the theme: ‘Advancing African Aviation Training Excellence’.
The stakeholders stressed the need for Africa to take a cue from the European Union (EU) by harmonizing and standardizing its training under one syllabus and curriculum.
The Technical Coordinator, AATO, West Africa, Dr Yakubu Ibrahim, stated that the aim of the body was to bring all African countries together to harmonise their activities and certificates.
He explained that such agreement would enhance job opportunities for technical persons in the industry, stressing that the current barrier must be broken.
For instance, Ibrahim explained that Europe had broken such barriers, which had further created more job opportunities for its personnel, while their airlines operated seamlessly into their skies.
He, however, mentioned funding as the major challenge bedevilling the attainment of AATO aims but maintained that no nation could go it alone.
“Funding is one of the major challenges. People don’t want to sacrifice. The Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, for instance, is the founding father of AATO and we put more resources than most members just to see that AATO does not collapse,” he said.
Ibrahim also revealed that some ATOs from Uganda were currently in Zaria to inspect the infrastructure of NCAT, which would lead to the signing of MoU between the two.
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, reiterated the readiness of Nigeria to collaborate with other countries to complement training on the continent.
Keyamo explained that as a region that faces shortages in critical skills in key areas of civil aviation, there was the need for member nations to plan, coordinate, manage, operate and oversee all complex operations in various aviation infrastructure.