Male’, Maldives – The Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation of Maldives Aishath Nahula has vowed to take action against Asian Academy of Aeronautics (AAA) for neglecting students of the flying school in Addu City, Gan.
Minister Nahula said this after the flying school which is run by a Srilankan party terminated another 15 students from the school.
Several students were informed of their termination through emails sent by the school on Saturday and Sunday, with the school citing unsatisfactory course completion levels as the reason of termination without a prior warnings.
Speaking on the matter, Minister Nahula said “since students are continuing to face injustice during ongoing efforts to solve the issue, I would like to inform that we [Transport Ministry] will be taking necessary action against the flying school”.
According to the school’s Student Union, the 15 students were terminated following a meeting with a team from the authorities, including a Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, who arrived in Addu City to meet with the students, during which roughly 40-50 students met with the team.
The AAA Student’s union said on Facebook that a highlight of this situation is that no foreign students received warning letters or were terminated, reiterating claims of discrimination by the school.
The school started acting in bad faith towards the students more rigorously following a notice by the Ministry of Higher Education of the Maldives, which stated that the school will take action against them, along with instructions on to improve the situation for the students.
However, not only has the school failed to comply within the working 20 days, which was the period allocated for them, it has started doubling down on the grievances put on the students, of which the latest is the termination of these 15 students.
The school has made headlines before, as the Student’s Union of the school have filed multiple complaints with the Ministry of Higher Education and Maldives Civil Aviation Authority, due to unfair terminations and alleged discrimination.
The academy also had all of their flights grounded earlier this month, due to the absence of an Airworthiness Manager for almost six months, which students say is due to the negligence of school management. According to AAA Student’s union’s tweet, after 2 weeks no available flights, flying resumed on the 21st of November.
