New era dawns on Aiyura Valley

The National Weekender
COVER STORY
Deputy Prime Minister Sam Basil surrounded with the students for a group picture during one of his visit last year.

By MICHAEL PHILIP
LOCATED at Aiyura in the Obura-Wonenara district of Eastern Highlands is a school called Aiyura Aircraft Maintenance Engineering School (AAMES).
The idea and dream to establish such school was not in the mind of one particular person but the whole Aiyura community.
After eight years of providing engineering and maintenance studies to students right across the country under the umbrella of a privately run institution, their dream to one day get the recognition from the Government was achieved early this year – on Feb 9, 2022.
Pursuant to Section 23 of the Higher and Technical Education Reform Act 2020 and Section 56 of the Higher Education (General Provision) Act 2014, the Department of Higher Education Research Science and Technology announced that AAMES is registered as a private higher education institution, commencing Feb 9, 2022 for a three-year period until Aug 19,2024.
Founder and Director Agion Aiako tells us the story how they gave birth to an engineering school in the remote part of Eastern Highlands.
“The school idea was in the minds of my young people in the village. They wanted me to teach them aircraft engineering. One morning, I can’t recall the day in February 2014, a young man came to me while I was working in the garden and said, ‘can you teach us air craft maintenance?’ And I said yeah! So find some students.
“He went and gathered 11 young men with different levels of education and so we started a class under my house. They contributed K2 each for me to buy white board markers and we started school. At the end of one month they were interested and wanted more information so we continued for another month and then three months, then three months extended into six months, six months extended into one year.

School Director and Founder Agion Aiako showing the school profile. – Nationalpic by MICHAEL PHILIP

“Then they asked if that was enough and I said there was a lot to learn yet. They were willing to go for a second year so I went to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and we came up with an idea to run a two-year course for the students. So that’s how we started,” Aiako says.
In 2014 the school began its operations and has been growing every year until in 2018 CASA PNG certified it as an approved CAR-141 aviation training institution in PNG.
Due to the increasing number of students from places outside the Highlands region like Bougainville, Manus, East and West Sepik, Madang, New Ireland and Western, they’ve decided to build new classrooms and dormitories to cater for the visiting students.
Aiyura AMES is still growing. Their aim is to transfer knowledge from very experienced people in the field to tudents. The school now has three aircraft maintenance engineers taking the students through training. Additional trainers include welders, machinists and electrical engineers who help in delivering the fundamentals of the whole training to the students.
As part of the CASA requirement, Aiyura AMES now has a certified quality and safety manager on the ground. The role is to keep the school in check at all times.
The community on the other hand, are very supportive in protecting their students. The school does have some troubling times throughout the year but these were managed well with community support.
To become a fully licensed aircraft maintenance engineer in Papua New Guinea, a student will have to go through three phases of preparation and the process is regulated and monitored by CASA PNG.
Phase 1 – Knowledge training

  • It is required by CASA PNG under strict standards set by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) that all aircraft maintenance engineering courses be conducted in an approved Civil Aviation Rule (CAR) Part 141 aviation training organisation. Aiyura AMES is an approved CAR 141 aviation training institution in PNG certified by CASA PNG in 2018. The school is authorised to conduct 24 months training on aircraft maintenance engineering according to standards set in the CAR of PNG.
    Phase 2. Licensing exams
  • All air craft maintenance engineers licensing examinations are conducted by CASA PNG. They have an exam centre in Port Moresby at the CASA PNG headquarters and in the Mt Hagen MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) base. The licensing examinations are online, set and monitored from New Zeeland through ASPEQ assessment specialist.
    Phase 3. Practicals
  • Aiyura AMES provides the theory component of the training to prepare its students to compete in the air craft maintenance engineering licensing examinations conducted by CASA PNG. As part of the schools training aid, Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) Aviation and New Tribes Mission PNG have donated write-off airplane parts and frames to the school for training purposes.
Boarding students are entitled to three meals per day prepared by this hardworking kitchen staff.

Aiyura AMES is privileged to have SIL Aviation as their good partner. They do have student visitors from time to time from the United States to share experiences with the students and opportunities and challenges in the trade of aircraft maintenance engineering. Through the connection with SIL Aviation they were able to purchase aircraft maintenance engineering textbooks and training materials direct from the States. Aiyura AMES will always be grateful of the support received from SIL Aviation and the New Tribes Mission in PNG.
Today, the school’s teaching programme has been adjusted to improve learning and study for students enrolling at the school. In particular, subjects are aligned to assist students towards CASA licensing examinations, graduate development program which would be introduced this year to assist graduates in achieving AME licensing. The Aiyura Airport Development Plan is in progress as part of our future plan to create employment for future Aiyura AMES graduates.
However, beyond these plans, they would introduce a pilot training programme when the time is right.
The DHERST’s recognition and approval has opened many doors for Aiyura AMES.
Aiako says they want to meet all training requirements set by CASA PNG to lead the way forward in aviation training program in the country. He urged the Government to support the institution for a better long-term establishment moving forward.
“To all MPs and governors, we have an approved aviation training organisation (college) in the country now. Please support these students when their school fee requests reach your office. To the Government, we seek your attention in growing this higher education institution. Nobody will give us aviation training. We must take the initiative to grow this institution ourselves.”
According to Aiako, in aviation training one of the things that he now realise is the work area.
“We cannot graduate more students and expect them to find employment so what the school is embarking on is to build an airport and hopefully a big one stop maintenance facility where the graduates will actually go and work and this is working towards the licensing programme at the same time and they can do the external exams and get their practicals done so they’re ready for licensing with CASA”.
Aiyura is a small community made up of reputable government institutions and international organisations. The valley is home to people from all walks of life with different backgrounds and as for students entering Aiyura AMES, Aiyura will be their second home where many wonderful memories are made.
The founder
Agion Aiako hails from Aiyura, a small village in Obura-Wonenara district in Eastern Highlands. He took up air craft maintenance engineering at the age of 22 in 1978 with SIL Aviation under the apprenticeship programme run by the Government of Papua New Guinea.
In 1987, the now licensed air craft maintenance engineer Aiagon Aiako proposed the idea of establishing an aviation school in Aiyura.
His plans never eventuated due to land disputes and other contributing issues.
However, this never stopped him from dreaming big for an aviation school to be established where Papua New Guineans can be trained using international standards.
The dream was realised in 2014 when 12 school dropouts from his small community approached him and asked if he could take them through the journey he once walked. The journey that took him to the top of his trade and around the world until his retirement as a proud licensed aircraft maintenance engineer from PNG that hailed from Aiyura. That was how it all began.
Agion Aiako is 65 years old and has four sons; Tinton Agion, a civil engineer, Cedric Agion, CEO of Aiyura Ames, Nerick Agion, an electrical engineer, and Aiako Agion Jnr who recently completed Grade 12.
They are all working with Aiyura Ames. They lost their mother in October 2020.