Why flying drones may soon be taught in high school

English, Maths, History – and Drones. That will soon be a high school student’s subject choices to give them the best chance for their careers to literally take off in a growing industry.

Leading drone pilot training company UAVAir is Australia’s only organisations approved by the NSW Department of Industry’s Smart and Skilled program and can provide students with subsidised Certificate III aviation training as part of their Higher School Certificate.

That means school leavers would be qualified for a career in an industry that is already being utilised by more than 500 Australian companies.

A number of schools have already expressed interest in including the drone course for its students.

Drones are now being used in firefighting, search and rescue, disaster relief, weather monitoring, border patrol, law enforcement and real estate because they are faster and cheaper than the traditional methods that involved helicopters and other aircraft.

UAVAir general manager Ashley Cox says school leavers and others wanting to re-enter the work force to pursue a career that growing possibilities.

“We’re using drones in the field and the industry is growing rapidly, from powerline and asset inspection to surveying, cinematography, photography, agriculture, search and rescue, even to monitor bushfires,” he said.

“We’re offering this service to a range of different industries and we need good, switched-on pilots that can meet the growing demand and the Smart and Skilled scheme will assistant us in doing this.

“We find young people are good pilots because of their hand skills. This training ensures we have access to a talent pool into the future.

“The actual piloting is quite simple, but if you are using a drone commercially it’s not just about flying, it’s about how well you can capture the data you’re after.”

Being part of the Smart and Skilled funding scheme, UAVAir’s Certificate III course can be subsidised by the NSW Government by between 55 and 90 per cent of the course cost with the student or school paying the rest.

Drones have become extremely useful in a number of industries because they can provide high quality data quickly and easily.

Agriculture is a great example with land owners now able to use drones to find cattle, inspect crops and identify areas of their property that needed repairs.

The Cerificate III drone course with UAVAir is CASA (Civil Aviation and Safety Authority) accredited and involves flight training, pre and post flight checks, safety and communications, CASA air law and regulations, charts and airspace, battery management and meteorology.

UAVAir is Australia’s only registered training organisation to teach the CASA approved course.

www.uavair.com.au