The students at the East African Civil Aviation Academy commonly called Soroti Flying school have threatened to stage a strike over what they describe as poor administration, which they say has left them redundant without classes.
The students, some of whom are bitter that the school has delayed the completion of their courses due to missed classes, say they have given the managers of the school a period of a week, which elapses this Wednesday to fix the problems.
Bernard Wandera, the acting director of the institution told URN recently that they lacked fuel for practical flight lesons but said he was hopeful the fuel would be acquired during the start of the new financial year that kicked off last Sunday. However, Blika Musheshe, one of the students says they have for the last two months not been able to go for the flight lessons due to the continued shortage of aviation fuel at the institution.
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The students also complain about a shortage of instructors many of whom are reported to have abandoned their work due to alleged poor payment. Two students who were admitted in 2010 told URN that they should have completed their course this year but due to the missed practical flight lessons, they are no longer sure when they would be able to finish their pilot courses and graduate.
The Flying school admits Advanced Certificate of Education holders with two principal passes in physics, mathematics or geography. The school charges 18,000 US dollars, about 43.2 million Uganda shillings, for Commercial Pilot license students while those admitted for Aircraft Maintenance Engineering pay 14,000 US dollars, or 33.6 million shillings. Students undertaking courses such as Airline Transport License and Assistant Flight Instructors pay 2,800 dollars or 6.7 million shillings and 5,350 dollars or 12.8 million shillings respectively. Some of the students claimed they acquired bank loans to join the institution hoping to pay back after completing their courses and securing employment that now seem a distant hope.
The students add that a scheduled meeting last Thursday with the minister for transport and works, Abraham Byandaala, whose ministry oversees the institution, flopped without any explanations. The meeting, they said was meant to enable them present their grievances to the minister for appropriate action.
When Uganda Radio Network visited the school at 11am on Monday, there were no lessons going on in the lecture rooms and most of the students seemed to be going about their personal businesses mostly in their dormitory.
The students say they have held several meetings with the administrators to sort out the problem in vain and as a result some said they demand to know how the tuition they pay is spent. Wandera was not available but told Uganda Radio Network on phone that he was away for a funeral. However, the students said they expect to meet the school’s Board of Directors on Wednesday to determine the next course of action.
The East African School of Civil Aviation was initiated in 1971 to train pilots and aircraft engineers for the East African market and is arguably one of the few institutions that survived the collapse of the first East African Community in 1977. The regional block was revived in 1999.
