Srilankan encourages rural youth to take up aviation careers
SriLankan Airline’s International Aviation Academy (IAA) announced yesterday that they are looking to reach out to the youth in more remote areas of Sri Lanka, providing opportunities for them to take up careers in the aviation industry.
The IAA Development Manager Buddhika Hewawasam explained that particularly with regard to the candidates of the recently concluded A/L examination, the IAA will be conducting a ‘Career Day’ on September 18, 2012, at Galadari Hotel for those who wish to pursue a career in the aviation sector.
The event is to be attended by all major stakeholders of the aviation industry, providing personal consultation opportunities for those interested. To further encourage the participation of the rural youth, a special discount will be offered to those registering for courses on the 18th while no entrance fee will be charged from visitors.
The aviation field has been long looked upon as restricted to an elite sector of the country, not daring to consider it as a potential professional career. The IAA is set out to disprove this myth.
Language barriers and other restrictions are negligible as prerequisites in a professional training programme. Some of the best performers at the IAA, in fact come from the rural areas of the country, Hewawasam noted.
Taking into view the expectation at interviews for qualifications to be backed by image, the IAA offers rural students a course on ‘Self Enhancement for Future Professionals’.
In addition, students with financial difficulties are provided with support in the form of loans and scholar- ships. According to Hewawasam, the project being more of a CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiative, the prices of the courses are relatively low at an approximate range of Rs.45,000 to Rs.140,000, payable in three installments.
It was also stressed that upon completion of the courses, the IAA trainees would be guaranteed employment within approximately three months at lucrative salaries.
With an annual revenue of Rs.36 million, the IAA has seen a growth in the number of students from 50 to about 500 with an increase in the passing out percentage from 46% to 82%.
Hewawasm further stated that there was a 20 to 30 percent annual increase in demand for aviation careers and that due to the high quality training provided by the IAA, the country’s aviation industry has seen a huge turnover of qualified person- nel to more lucrative career opportunities overseas, hence leaving a vacuum to be filled by more qualified human resources in the country.
It is within this context that the IAA is looking to open out further to the Sri Lankan youth.
The IAA is also aspiring to strengthen ties with the national universities, as well as to enter the school curriculum.
The IAA is recognised by the International Airline Training Association (IATA) to be amongst the ‘Top Ten’ Authorised Training Centers in Asia and was recently granted the exclusive right to open its first overseas branch in the Maldives.
In keeping with the government perspective to become the tourism and the educational hub of the region, the IAA is fully resolved to do its part.