November 22 (SeeNews) - The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) approved a 20 million euro ($22.6 million) loan to Serbia to finance the modernisation of state-owned Aviation Academy College of Applied Studies, it said on Monday.
The college, established in May 2021, will consist of aviation training centres in Vrsac and Belgrade, and will offer comprehensive professional training for aircraft pilots, air traffic controllers, aircraft maintenance staff and cabin crew, within the state education system, in a dual education model, CEB said in a statement.
"This loan will contribute to making the academic education of this type accessible to a wider range of the population, especially to students from low-income families," CEB Governor Rolf Wenzel said.
The Serbian education ministry plans to have the college fully operational in October 2023, so that students who already started learning theory in October 2021, could start with practical training from October 2023, CEB noted.
The project can be seen as a pilot for developing dual education at the academic level and making academic education accessible to a larger part of the population. It is expected that around 1,500 students will benefit from it within the period of four to five years from the start of the operations of the college, the bank added.
This is the fourth CEB project in Serbia focused on improving educational infrastructure.
($ = 0.8861 euro)