Apprenticeship is one way for someone to get their Aircraft Maintenance Engineer's license. In fact during my time in the early seventies, that was the only way. I could still recall my father's reaction when I told him that I'm quiting college and joining an airline as an apprentice. Back then an apprentice would be equated like the automobile apprentice in the popular small town mechanics shop.
Life as an apprentice as I found out later is very tough. You have to work during the day and study on your own during the nights. And as the examination came closer, the more you spent waking up all nightlong. But then it's worth it. When you finally get your license and begun practicing your privilege, the job and the environment was something difficult to describe.
One aspect of apprenticeship that is unique compared to the college life is the mentors that you have. You work in a specific team or sometime they called it a maintenance crew. They are like your family, taking care of your progression from a young apprentice to a skilled engineer. I will never forget my mentors. Most of them have passed away, but the memory still lingers on. To named some...Harun Abbas, Abang Zainal, Abang Man, Pa' Hamid, Pa' Itam, Pa' Wan, Pa' Bakar, Johari, Akhbar Shah, Hasjaidi, Ismail Bujang, Cutter, Siva, Chong (who passed away in aircraft crash) and all the rest............
Without my mentors I wont be what I am today. That to me is the biggest difference between the apprenticeship and the college way of learning. And interestingly PBL is emulating that strength into the formal education system. In MIAT we are exploring its usage. I for one, would like my students to taste and feel the joy of learning as what I've gone through during my apprenticeship days.
