IGNOU sculpts Dream Flights

New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has added yet another top-end course to its bouquet of pioneering front line academic programmes.
Tying up with CIAL (Cochin International Airport Ltd) Academy, IGNOU now offers MBA and other courses in Aviation and Airport Infrastructure Technology and Management.
It was on September 25 that Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan dedicated the CIAL Academy to the nation.
The first batch of classes has also just begun. Built at a cost of around Rs.6 crore, CIAL Academy is situated close to the airport, opposite the state of the art Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility, which is fast nearing completion.
The programmes that are being offered include a two-year MBA programme, and a one-year Advanced Diploma Courses in: (a) Airport Operations Management, and, (b) Air Cargo Management; and six-month Certificate Courses in: (a) Airport Ramp Handling, (b) Rescue and Fire Fighting, and (c) Security and Intelligence.
Besides imparting knowledge in aviation management and aviation technology, CIAL Academy aims to become a centre of excellence and help promote professional and industry-oriented education by collaborating with specialized institutions.
Bubbling with enthusiasm was Jaya Paul, a graduate in Geography and a student of the first batch of the MBA programme, who aspires to be “the best manager in the aviation industry.”
The academy is unique in many ways because the teaching faculty includes professionals purely from the aviation industry.
Over 90 percent of the faculty comes from within CIAL, experts who handle various departments of the airport.
T.S. Gopi, the Academy’s Director, says, “There may be other institutes offering such courses, but they can only give theoretical exposure. The students here will, from Day One, have on-the-job classroom training and get the feel of working out of an airport.”
CIAL Academy considered various options and felt that IGNOU was the best bet for more reasons than one. The most important — as it aimed to offer top-line management programmes, it felt IGNOU had the requisite expertise.
A.C.K. Nair, Airport Director, CIAL, who has close to two decades experience of working in various airports in the country, says that trained and qualified man-power is a lacunae when it comes to airport operations and that the new academy will produce quality professionals.
In view of the academy’s potential, the Kerala Government has recently allotted an additional five acres of land on the highway even as more infrastructure plans are being worked out for the academy.
14/12/09 INDIA edunews.NET