Hi all!

Tomorrow will be the last day of Open House! So hurry down! :D

Meanwhile, AMS was featured in the 6 January 2010 issue of Today.

Take a look!

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SINGAPORE - Taking a local diploma could now come with a private pilot licence for some students.

This is a new offering from Temasek Polytechnic under its three-year Diploma in Aviation Management and Services.

The Aeronautical Science Option, a collaboration between the school and its aviation industry partners, allows selected students to go through a flying programme in their final year.

They will pay less than five per cent of the $20,000 it would otherwise cost for the licence, apart from the tuition fees.

Besides the practical flying training, advance modules in air navigation, flight planning and meteorological science will equip students with knowledge for the Airline Transport Pilot Licence papers.

It is not necessary for graduation, but students can apply for the licence, which is the minimum requirement to fly for a local airline.

Course manager Paul Yap said the new option aims to meet the projected industry shortfall and to cope with a "wave of retirements" from the baby boomer generation.

Industry players have forecast a global shortfall of 18,000 pilots a year over the next 20 years, he noted.

The new course also aims to reduce the training cycle and attrition rate in producing military and commercial pilots.

If airlines find the programme up to scratch, said Mr Yap, they can shorten training time by up to six months for graduands who join them.

Mr Yap expects about 30 students each year to make the cut in the industry-standard selection process done in the second year of the diploma course.

Last year, 106 students enrolled for the diploma.

Second-year students told MediaCorp they were glad the school has this new offering and that they would have taken the course if they could.

Student Julian Tan, 18, said he still plans to get a private pilot licence, "but not so soon ... mainly because of the cost".

Sajiv N Sekaran, 18, recalled fondly a 45-minute flying experience he had in Malaysia during a school trip: "We got to fly and turn left and right. We also experienced the G-Force, where you go really low and speed off." ALICIA WONG