CONTRARY to the hitherto insinuation that the cost of training at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, was on the high side, indications just emerged that the citadel of learning was about the cheapest place to learn.
“Our fees are not high; NCAT is about the cheapest place that you can train in the world because of government subsidy. We are not a profit making organisation. Recently, as part of the procedure for us to become a regional training centre of excellence, we had developed standard training packages. These packages have given NCAT a lot of publicity and we have started attracting students from other parts of the world.
The Rector used the opportunity to allay the fears of the public about safety around the school due to insecurity confronting many parts of the country saying: “The issue of insecurity is just a perception, NCAT itself is secure, the issue is not with Zaria, what people are afraid of is how to connect to Zaria from either Lagos or Abuja.
So, for students who fly through Lagos, we encourage them to fly to Kaduna where we now arrange to have them picked up and taken to the college. And for those who arrive through Abuja, we either pick them in Abuja or at the train station in Kaduna.
“Like I said Zaria is secured, right now we have the contractors who came to Kaduna to install the fire simulator, they started work on Monday and they are from the UK and they have similar fears about security and the feedback I am getting is that they are quite satisfied with the arrangements we made foe them and what they have seen they feel very, very safe and secure in Zaria. So Zaria and its environment are not the problem it is just on how to get there.
Unveiling some of the achievements his administration has recorded in the college, the rector cited how his management had developed some training programmes skills acquisition targeted at the unemployed youths and “we have sensitised the states on the availability of these programmes. Students and youths can learn in such areas as repairs of diesel engines, solar power, electric installations and refrigeration.
