Twelve Kazakh student pilots have been selected to take part in a training programme at Finland’s Patria Flight Training Centre, through which they may earn commercial pilot’s licenses and international pilot certificates. Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Finland Galymzhan Koishibayev visited the Kazakh students at the Patria Centre in Helsinki, Finland, on May 26.
In his remarks, Koishibayev noted that developing engineering education and technical personnel training is a high-priority task for Kazakhstan and mentioned in the country’s Kazakhstan 2050 national strategy.
“High quality education is the foundation of the development of industrialisation and innovation in the country,” explained the ambassador. The Kazakh student pilots will receive training abroad through an agreement concluded during the meeting of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö during the latter’svisit to Kazakhstan in 2013. Koishibayev also met with Patria Centre authorities while visiting the school.
According to the memorandum concluded by the Civil Aviation Academy of Kazakhstan and Finland’s Patria Pilot Training School, the 12 Kazakh students will participate in a training course meeting European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) requirements at the Finnish school. The course will run to the end of 2015. Upon graduation, the Kazakh pilots will be awarded a diploma, a commercial pilot’s licence and international pilot certificates.
The students, who were selected by Patria from 60 applicants, have already finished theoretical courses in Kazakhstan. Director General of the Patria Pilot Training Company Mikko Paronen emphasised the strategic character of cooperation with Kazakhstan and expressed his interest in future cooperation between the two countries. Kazakhstan and Finland are in ongoing negotiations to organise training courses for pilot tutors.
Establishing a pilot training centre at the Civil Aviation Academy of Kazakhstan is another of Kazakhstan’s aviation development goals. It is expected that the new training centre will work in accordance with EASA education norms. Kazakhstan’s cooperation with Finland in pilot training is another step in building civil aviation personnel and infrastructure that meet European and global standards.
