Transport Minister Mohamed Ameen has announced that the government will not issue student loans for future pilot students as the country does not have a need for cadet pilots.
In an interview with Dhivehi Raajjeyge Adu radio, Ameen expressed concern over the high number of pilot students with limited job opportunities and said airlines have been informed to recruit Maldivian citizens as cadet pilots.
"Airlines can offer jobs when there is a need. If we give scholarships to more than 500 students and they end up employing 24 or 25 students in a year, what will happen to the rest of them?" he stated.
Ameen noted that pilots need to renew their licenses and this cannot be done if they are unable to find a job. He added that airlines have been forced to hire more people in order to address the problem.
"Now, I don't believe that our government will open any more opportunities for pilot training at the moment. I don't think this country needs to train any more cadet pilots at the moment," Ameen said.
He also highlighted that the government will not prevent current pilot trainees from continuing their courses.
More than 1300 applications have been submitted for the 500 student loan opportunities announced in March. The government has not yet announced the recipients of the loan opportunities.
