Sunday, 28 February 2016

NIT now to train aircraft engineers

The National Institute of Transport (NIT)
 The National Institute of Transport (NIT) will from this year start offering aircraft engineering courses to cater for the high demand for qualified personnel in the aviation sector.
 
In an exclusive interview with The Guardian recently, NIT’s School of Aviation Principal, DrBarthlomewRufujo said that the course is meant to pump more engineers into the sector, noting that the high demand of aviation engineers in the country was not commensurate with the available personnel. 
 
“The training will be of international standards, said DrRufujo”, revealing that its curriculum will involve the latest training manuals from USA and other countries.
 
“We believe by introducing this important course, we will be contributing immensely towards alleviating the shortage of qualified aviation engineers in the country”, he explained.
 
He said that in order to ensure that the training has a local touch with international standards; they had signed an MOU with Air Tanzania Limited (ATCL) so as the two public institutions can collaborate in technical and technological areas. 
 
The main courses that will be offered by the program, he said, will be, Bachelors Degree in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering and Diploma in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering with a total of 38 students being admitted to the Bachelors Degree program.
 
On his part, the School of Aviation Technology Head of Flying and Operations Department,JumaFimbo said that his department also plans to start cabin crew training program and pilot training courses in the 2016/17 academic year. 
 
Currently, most of the aircraft that operates in the country and the East African region are serviced in Nairobi, Kenya. This is due to the scarcity of adequate aviation engineers in the country.
 
Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary for Works, Transport and Communications, Prof. FaustineKamuzola, has decried the low number of qualified technical staff in the aviation industry. 
 
Speaking recently after launching an aircraft hangar at NIT, Prof Kamuzola lauded NIT’s plan to train aviation engineers locally, citing high costs of training them abroad. He said that the government will provide all the support to NIT to ensure that the program is a success and called on qualified students to enroll for the courses.
 


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