Certification is Timely Boost for TP’s Aerospace Training Programme

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has audited and certified Temasek Polytechnic’s School of Engineering as a SAR-147 Approved Maintenance Training Organisation (MTO), in offering training for its students from the Diploma in Aerospace Engineering and Diploma in Aerospace Electronics.

This certification means that TP’s Aerospace training programme has met the required standards pertaining to personnel, facilities and quality management. The poly is the first Institute of Higher Learning (IHL) to achieve this certification.

With more engineers and technicians required to support the growth of the aircraft maintenance sector, graduates of related courses from IHLs are a key choice to take on these jobs. After consulting with industry players and the IHLs to review and amend the Aircraft Maintenance Engineers (AME) training requirements, CAAS permitted IHLs to conduct part of the basic aircraft maintenance training and cover relevant portions of the CAAS AME syllabus. The IHLs also provided the necessary practical training facilities for teaching hands-on basic maintenance skills. This arrangement further resulted in reducing the Licensed Aircraft Engineer (LAE) apprenticeship time by up to one year.

For Aerospace students at TP, this means that their training hours will be recognised towards the minimum of 2,400 training hours stipulated in the B1 (airframe & engines) and B2 (avionics) SAR-66 Aircraft Maintenance Licensing (AML) basic training course. Furthermore, when they take up the traineeship programme to become an LAE, their basic training programme would effectively be cut short by up to 13 months.

With the basic aircraft maintenance training incorporated in TP’s aerospace curriculum, future employersdo not have to retrain TP’s Aerospace graduates in certain areas, resulting in potential training cost savings. Furthermore, because students can complete their AML basic training sooner, the industrycan benefit from an accelerated manpower flow from TP to the job market.

To date, TP is the 11^th SAR-147 Approved MTO in Singapore to be approved by CAAS to conduct AML basic training courses using its own quality management system.

Since 2007, the TP has partnered Lufthansa Technical Training (LTT) – the training arm of Lufthansa Airways, Germany, to offer practical aerospace training at the TP-LTT Aerospace Training Centre located in TP. Many Aerospace lecturers in TP have been trained as certified instructors, and are highly skilled to provide optimum Aerospace training to TP students. The SAR-147 certification is a natural progression of this partnership for TP to tap on the experience gained.

Commenting on the certification, Mrs Lay-Tan Siok Lie, Deputy Principal of Temasek Polytechnic and Director of the School of Engineering, said: "Temasek Polytechnic ispleased to be the first Institute of Higher Learning in Singapore to have been certified by CAAS as a SAR-147 Approved Maintenance Training Organisation (AMTO). We willstrivenot just to maintain our high training standards, but also to continue enhancing our capabilities, facilities, equipmentand teaching methodology, so as to ensure that our students will have a bright future."

Located near Changi Airport, the Seletar Aerospace Park and numerous aerospace companies, TP is ideally positioned to provide this highly-specialised aerospace training to prepare and groom professionals for the vibrant Aerospace sector in Singapore and the region.  

Media Invite

You are cordially invited to write about TP’s SAR-147 Approved Maintenance Training Organisation certification by CAAS - a first for an IHL in Singapore.

For further enquiries or interviews, please contact TP’s Senior Corporate Communications Officer (Media Relations), Ms Vimala Christie, at 67805019 or 97900319 or email her at vimalac@tp.edu.sg