MKU to offer degree programmes to aviation students

Mount Kenya University has signed a deal with the Flight Training Centre that will enable student pilots to enrol for other courses.

This means pilots training with the Wilson Airport-based flight school can now enrol for degree programmes alongside their aviation courses.

The MoU seeks to enhance the learners' understanding of the aviation industry and the functioning of related economic sectors.

They will have different courses to choose from, among them hospitality, tourism, economics and business. 

“The MoU we are signing today with FTC will be a game-changer in the training of pilots in Kenya and maybe in the region,” MKU vice chancellor Deogratius Jaganyi said. 

“The training of pilots in Kenya is regulated by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and that very intensive work goes into the training of a pilot.

"However, we are in different times and, therefore, following the signing of the MKU–FTC agreement, the two institutions will roll out professional courses to the pilots trained at FTC.”

FTC chief executive officer Capt Godwin Wachira said the agreement will enable students to learn how to fly while at the same time pursuing other disciplines.

Students at FTC would have to shuffle between Wilson Airport and university campuses in different locations. 

“We are truly honoured and humbled with the MoA signed with MKU. The step taken by FTC and MKU is a big one. The students in MKU will have a chance to do piloting and pursue a degree course. The transitioning of a student from one institute to the other will be effortless,” Wachira said. 

Prof Jaganyi said the university is open to partnering with FTC in other areas, including the support for people living with disability.

The event was themed around reducing inequalities through the support of persons living with disability. The FTC team also held a motivational talk for PLWDs.

The vice chancellor said reaching PLWDs within and outside MKU’s fraternity was a priority for the university and is one of the modalities it is using to reduce inequalities in society. 

Due to its work in reducing inequalities, MKU was recently designated as one of the global hubs for tackling socio-economic inequalities by the UN Academic Impact.

The UN agency designates institutions as hubs for their initiatives that promote UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 10 on reduced inequalities.  

“This theme is informed by the fact that MKU has been honoured by the United Nations Academic Impact and mandated to serve as the SDG 10- Reduced Inequalities Hub for a renewable period of three years between June this year and May 2024,” Prof Jaganyi said. 

Wachira encouraged people living with disability to take advantage of the numerous opportunities available for them in the aviation sector. 

“There are many areas where persons enabled differently can come in and work in the aviation industry. It is important for MKU to see what courses can be integrated into the institution to help those people,” he said. 

“We would be happy to have diverse people working in the aviation industry and there are many opportunities. With the MoU, we believe we will move forward and scale heights.”