It was revealed in Dar es Salaam the capital of Tanzania that The National Institute of Transport (NIT) may become an Airbus training center. This comes to light when NIT has already trained and produced 75 aircraft engineers since 2015.
Rector at NIT Prof Zacharia Mganilwa said that their Institute has been selected to become an Airbus Center for Africa. This comes after their institute received aircraft and engineering training equipment as support from the government through Tanzania Education Authority (TEA) in Dar es Salaam.
“We are looking forward to speaking with Boeing Aircraft so that they can also accord us such a rank,” said Prof Mganilwa.
He highlighted that 49 students have graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Aircraft Maintenance so far, while 26 have made it to Diploma level since the establishment of the School of Aviation Technology at NIT in 2015.
“A similar course costs up to Sh200 million a year as tuition. But, at NIT, it costs only Sh6 million a year,” he added.
According to the statistics, Tanzania is experiencing a huge shortage of aircraft maintenance engineers of about 60 percent that is being filled by expatriates.
The Higher Education Students Loans Board (HESLB) supports only 50 percent of the country’s requirements.
Prof. Mganilwa appealed to the government to look for ways to assist and also make sure support could be granted to those studying a Diploma course.
He nevertheless expressed his appreciation on behalf of the institute to the government for granting the requisite practical training equipment to NIT.
He also added that there’s a planned pilot training programme that would start before mid-2022, pending the arrival of three aircraft that are to be purchased under the Wold Bank-funded East Africa Skills for Transformation and Regional Integration Project (EASTRIP).
The TEA director general, Ms Bahati Geuzye, said the equipment, which was handed over to NIT for aircraft maintenance engineering practical training courses, cost KSh245.4 million in total.
Granting all the required equipment to NIT is the only way to improve the teaching environment at the National Institute in the area of safe air transport.
The Minister for Education, Science, Technology and Vocational Training, Prof Joyce Ndalichako, in her remarks said the training offered by NIT reflects the vision of the sixth-phase government under President Samia Suluhu Hassan, in power since March 19 this year.
By Tiller Maringa
