Source
Business journal "Aviatransportnoe Obozrenie", September–October 2019. pp. 29–30: http://www.ato.ru/content/my-vyshli-iz-toy-krizisnoy-situacii
About KAI
Last year in Kyrgyzstan a dedicated higher education institution for training civil aviation specialists was established. It was formed on the basis of the local aviation college named after I. Abdraimov (formerly the Frunze Aviation Technical School — established in 1973) as part of the implementation of the Civil Aviation Development Programme of the Kyrgyz Republic for 2016–2020. The charter of the higher aviation educational institution Kyrgyz Aviation Institute named after I. Abdraimov (KAI) was approved by the republican government on 12 April 2018. The director of KAI became Ulan Kurmanov, a graduate of Novosibirsk State Technical University in the field of aircraft and helicopter construction, Candidate of Technical Sciences, who for a long time headed the aviation college. On the successes, problems and development prospects of KAI, Ulan Kurmanov spoke to Aviatransportnoe Obozrenie:
Interview
ATO: Mr Ulan Esembekovich, in December 2017 your college was transformed into an aviation institute. What did that bring besides a formal change of sign?
U. K.: This decision was taken in view of the aviation sector’s need for specialists with higher aviation education. On the basis of the existing infrastructure a modern higher education institution in aviation is being created that will deliver training at both higher and secondary vocational levels. The main focus will be on preparing specialists for airlines of Kyrgyzstan as well as for neighbouring and distant foreign countries.
Creating an aviation university is an expensive and responsible undertaking. At the same time, we can confidently note that we look to the future with optimism and, step by step, implementing planned measures, have achieved quite good results in a short time.
In particular, pursuant to the requirements of the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic in the field of education and civil aviation, within one year we successfully passed accreditation with two independent agencies, underwent IAC certification for compliance with the air legislation requirements of the Kyrgyz Republic and IAC standards. As an aviation university we passed three licensing examinations by the Ministry of Education and Science of Kyrgyzstan, as well as certification by the Civil Aviation Agency of our country.
I would also like to note that within the framework of continuous ICAO monitoring our university, as one of the centres for aviation personnel training in the Kyrgyz Republic, was among the industry facilities visited by ICAO auditors.
ATO: Were you able to resolve the issue of the absence of training simulators for flight crew preparation?
U. K.: This issue has been on my agenda as one of the main items since the first day of my work as head of the college and then the institute. Following the ICAO audit in 2016 concerns were expressed about our flight crew training system. In particular, remarks were made regarding the aircraft type, which was not equipped with all necessary complexes, and regarding the training programme itself. Considering modern requirements, at that time our pilot training did not fully meet ICAO standards.
As part of the corrective action plan following the ICAO audit we have taken the following measures. First, we abandoned the aircraft type on which pilots had been trained. Second, we temporarily suspended flight internships (theoretical training remained) on the territory of our republic. Third, we revised all pilot training programmes in accordance with ICAO requirements for flight hours and main ratings for student pilots. Fourth, given the seriousness of the issue, the Civil Aviation Agency of the Kyrgyz Republic initiated the search for a training base in neighbouring countries to organise flight internships. As a result of inspection checks, the Agency selected a training centre in the Republic of Kazakhstan to which our student pilots’ flight internships were delegated. Finally, fifth, we trained three institute instructors on the new aircraft type that students study with us, while practical flight internships take place at the training centre in Kazakhstan.
It should be noted that this measure is transitional and temporary — until a full-fledged flight training base is organised in Kyrgyzstan. I would also note that delegating flight training flights to other institutions and countries is a worldwide and normal practice.
ATO: At the beginning of 2017 you noted: “Indeed, we cannot offer anything new today. Essentially, we train specialists according to the classical Soviet system. You know, one could even say that today we lag behind our competitors by ten years in terms of integration into the international aviation community.” Have you managed to change anything two years on?
U. K.: A very good question. Indeed, I felt that way at the time. But today, being at a new certain level, I can confidently say that we have emerged from the crisis situation that existed then. I will note several facts. If in 2016 we had about 350 students, today our contingent amounts to 1,100 students. We have revised all governing documentation regulating academic, production and scientific components, taking into account modern requirements.
We have fully moved to automated knowledge control and management of the educational process and acquired specialised software. Report results indicate a stable positive dynamic in student performance.
We have diversified our activities and introduced several non-aviation specialities.
Since 2017 we have fully adopted credit-modular technologies, where each student has a specific rating in the internal assessment system. Together with the Civil Aviation Agency we opened a modern Centre for Testing Aviation Personnel, where knowledge assessment by testing is conducted not only for students but also for practising pilots, air traffic controllers, engineers and other specialists.
And of course, the learning conditions. For many years we have been actively developing the material base. After repairs we opened a new large assembly hall, organised an electronic library, converted an unused storage facility into a modern oval conference hall for meetings and conferences. Over many years we have also renovated the student dormitory.
Here I tried to list only the main achievements of the past two years. Certainly much has been done, but more work lies ahead.
Artyom Korenyako.