CCAA launches first initial university training in aviation in Cameroon
Published: Tuesday, 15 November 2022 15:46
The certification course has been launched on November 14, 2022, at the Training School (EFO) of the Aviation Authority and is the fruit of the academic partnership between the Cameroon Civil Aviation Authority (CCAA) and the University of Yaounde I, via the National Advanced School of Engineering in Yaounde (NASEY).
In the presence of many key players, instructors, and guests like the Director of ENSPY and the Director General of ALUCAM, the Director General of the CCAA launched this training as part of the training partnership contract between the two structures signed on November 26, 2021.
This action is in line with the professionalization of our universities, as instructed by the President of the Republic, after the multiple continuous training of aviation professionals often organized at the EFO.
This first, initial professional training in aircraft maintenance and recycling will be sanctioned by a university certificate of specialized aptitude in maintenance and recycling.
The courses will be taught in partnership with the National Advanced School of Engineering in Yaounde (NASEY).
Indeed, the partnership binding the two structures, the CCAA and the NASEY, consists of collaborating in training, scientific and technological research, and expertise in the fields of interest of the two structures.
The aircraft maintenance and recycling training program is divided into two (02) phases- a theoretical phase with tutorials and a practical phase lasting six (06) months. The theoretical phase and part of the practical phase will take place at the EFO according to pedagogical needs. Other parts of the practical phase will take place at NASEY, and for some specific works, at air base 101.
Then will follow an internship of 03 months in a civil aviation structure whose object of exploitation relates to the subjects studied by the trainees. This internship will then allow the participants to become familiar with the working environment and make it operational and competitive.
This class was selected through a rigorous process, beginning with a study of files and allowing for the selection of the most suitable candidates, after they passed written and oral tests.
All the necessary pedagogical tools for these activities have already been put together at the training sites.
This training, open to candidates holding an engineering degree (GCE + 05) or a recognized equivalent degree, in the fields of mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, electrical engineering, or telecommunications engineering, will last nine (09) months from today, November 14, 2022.
After the customary courtesies, the Director General of the CCAA gave an inaugural lecture on the strategy to develop local skills for the maintenance and recycling of aircraft, to set the scene for the training.
In her presentation, she reviewed the focus of the high-level air transport development strategies and highlighted a pillar of the 2020-2030 National Development Strategy, which focuses on Human Capital Development and Well-Being. An aspect well integrated into the vision of Cameroonian air transport by the year 2035 elaborated by the CCAA and included in its internal strategic orientations.
In a nutshell, the Director General wanted to show the value of training in this crucial field of maintenance where the training needs are glaring. And, as the aircraft is at the center of all activities in the air sector, it seemed important to her to think about its life and survival. Hence the decision to implement mechanisms for acquiring national skills for users and the aircraft.
It should be noted that the vision of the Directorate General of the CCAA is "to have a modern, competitive and efficient air transport system at the service of the economic and social development of the country, sustainable and a reference at the regional level, supported by the national aviation sector.
And above all, by the time Cameroon achieves economic emergence, the CCAA Training School hopes to be a center of excellence in Africa for the provision of skills development offers; in the field of civil aviation.
Since its inception in 2016, the CCAA Training School has already delivered more than 4500 certificates and attestations of completion in civil aviation security as well as in civil aviation security specialties in its three (03) training centers, namely:
- The ICAO AVSEC Regional Training Centre in Douala;
- The Yaounde Training Centre; and
- The Garoua Training Centre.
In the short term, it envisages launching training courses on air transport regulation; air transport economics; air transport company certification; airport certification; animal risk management, and safety studies.