Foreign students surge boosting forex inflow at NCAT, Zaria – Ismaila

The Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, Kaduna State, is gradually turning Nigeria into a major hub in aviation training and, consequently, boosting foreign exchange earnings for both the federal government and the institution.

…Says institution turning Nigeria into a major aviation training hub

Danjuma Ismaila, rector and chief executive officer of the institution, revealed this over the weekend at the graduation of another set of 13 foreign students, who were trained by the institution, in Abuja.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony in Abuja, after about six weeks of intensive training, Ismaila said the students came from different nationalities, including Cameroon, Rwanda, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Madagascar and Benin, which are mainly French-speaking countries.

The student cadets were trained in Air traffic control after their initial exposure at the EAMAC training program in the Niger Republic.

According to him, “The programme involved a two-week intensive classroom drills on pronunciation and vocabulary, as well as grammatical structures, used in aviation language.

“They were also trained in fluency and comprehension, air traffic control interactions, followed by progress tests and mastery tests.

“Because they are from French-speaking countries, they needed to boost their level of spoken English, which is the essence of the training, and Nigeria has been at the forefront in providing these trainings.

He revealed that the college has become popular because of the intensive programme the foreign students are exposed to and the successes recorded over the years, adding that ” the college had a batch from EAMAC, the Niger Republic, last year, about the same period.

“This course recorded a 100percent success. After classroom training, they visited recreational centres and parks to interact, and this aided in boosting their level of confidence.

“The second phase was on-the-job training, which they were exposed to at the NAIA. They also visited the control tower, radar and ground control, aero communication and AIS departments.

” Here, they had interactions and saw the practical aspects of what they were taught in class. On weekends, they were distributed to six host families, where they spent the whole day interacting and having outdoor visits, as it is an internal part of the training.

He, however, appealed to the Federal government to strengthen the institution’s funding and infrastructure, which he said has limited the prospect of the foremost aviation training college, adding that ” We can do more, with more funding and better infrastructure”.