G

aruda Maintenance Facility (GMF) Aero Asia and Solo Techno Park (STP) training center witnessed 22 students in the first batch of its basic aircraft structure program graduate at a ceremony at the STP compound in Surakarta, Central Java, on Wednesday.

Solo Techno Park executive director Sumadi said the cooperation between GMF and STP had started in August 2012. '€œWe have a three-year contract with GMF,'€ Sumadi said on Wednesday.

During the three-year cooperation, according to Sumadi, the program is aiming for the graduation of 96 students from four batches.

Each batch consists of between 20 and 25 students and runs for nine months, with six months spent at STP and the other three months training at GMF Cengkareng in Jakarta.

They are selected from senior high school and vocational senior high school graduates. STP was established in 2004 to provide training on technology required by the industry. GMF human capital and corporate affairs director Harkandri M Dahler said GMF needed between 500 and 750 technicians annually. This, he added, could not be fulfilled by the GMF solely as it was only capable of producing between 100 and 150 technicians annually. This accounted for why the cooperation was established.

Harkandri expressed hope that future technicians emerging from the cooperation would meet the standard required of aircraft technicians. '€œThe graduates will be further trained because the program just gives them basic lessons,'€ Harkandri said, adding that further training would be provided through a five-year contract between GMF and the graduates.