Only 5 students are on board UoP MTech aviation course

Twelve of the 20 registered candidates have cancelled their admissions to MTech in aviation of University of Pune (UoP) citing inability to pay the hefty fees and fluctuating Euro to Indian rupee. It appears that the much touted course will now take off with merely eight students.

University officials admit that one of the other reasons for candidates backing out from the course was the stringent rules of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regarding education loan. Parents of two girls withdrew admission stating that it was not ‘appropriate’ for girls.

The students will have to pay Rs55 lakh for the two-year course that will cover issuance of flying licence, medical and other expenses.

In July, UoP had signed an MoU with Germany-based flying institute Fachschule fur Luftfahrzeugfuhrer (FFL) to offer MTech-Aviation course to Indian students.

As per the agreement, the first of the four semesters will be conducted at UoP, while the remaining semesters would involve onsite training at FFL facilities in Frankfurt, Germany.
However, only five students have confirmed their admissions to the course that will probably start from next month. “The cancellation of 12 admissions is a major blow for us as well as for FFL. However, the course will start from next month,” said Aditya Abhyankar, dean and professor of department of technology, University of Pune.

“Parents of two girls, who later thought that the course is not meant for girls, backed out. We tried to counsel them in vain,” he said.

He said that majority of the candidates was from middle class background. They went ahead eyeing the loan facility but could not qualify because of stringent norms by RBI. When the course was announced, the condition of Euro was quite balanced. However, the Indian Rupee weakened compared to Euro leading to a rise in course fee.

“As we share a good rapport with FFL, the latter has agreed to start the course from next month,” he said.

The department of technology said with eight students they will write a success story and will pave the way for the next batch. “We are reaching out to other universities and colleges and encouraging people to join the course, which is going to give them many opportunities in the field of aviation,” Abhyankar said.