Maldives’ Minister for Higher Education Dr Ibrahim Hassan stated, on Friday, affirmed his opinion that the island nation is in need of an additional flying school.
At present, Gan International Airport located in Addu Atoll is home to the only flying school in Maldives.
The Asian Academy of Aeronautics (AAA) in Addu made headlines recently, following its heavily disputed move to expel numerous students. During an interview given to local news outlet Mihaaru, Minister Hassan responded to questions posed regarding the AAA controversy, stating that having another flying school would give rise to healthy competition among educators, as well as provide further training opportunities to aviation students.
“Maldives does require [the establishment of] another flying school”, iterated Dr Ibrahim Hassan.
The minister highlighted that, similar to the manner in which Maldives Medical Council is tasked with assessing and overseeing the standards as well as course content, it is the Civil Aviation Authority that holds jurisdiction with regards to the operation of flight schools.
Hence, as the regulatory body for aviation education, Dr Hassan noted that the decisions made by Addu Flying School must be assessed by the relevant department at the Civil Aviation Authority.
According to Dr Hassan, the Higher Education Ministry’s lies with the registration process of such facilities.
He also revealed that the ministry was currently in the process of evaluating the audit report produced by the authority, also concerning Addu’s Flying school.
Recently, despite measures placed by the state in light of the many issues raised against AAA, the flying school expelled 15 students without prior warning or adequate reason.
Several concerns regarding the flying school, such as their alleged failure to provide flight training to students that have successfully passed examinations and collecting student fees whilst delaying course completion, have continually been observed and brought to attention over the past two years.
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