Over the past few decades there has been a steady decline in aviation pilots and controllers, not to mention the other sects of the aviation industry.  These numbers are consistently falling and finally it looks like countries around the world are getting together to discuss a possible solution to increase the numbers of aviation professionals once again. This solution includes introducing the aviation career much earlier to students by including aviation into the high school curriculum.

Last weekend hundreds of teachers, principals, and school administration gathered in Central Florida at the Aerospace Academy to hear from experts in the field about why aviation belongs in the high school curriculum, how to include it into the curriculum, and where to find funding to do so. This new push at the conference was to share which content is working in the curriculum and the best practices to produce the best results.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the number of certified pilots have dropped almost 50% in the last 20 years.  They also estimate a decrease of 6,000 private pilots every year. Considering the aviation industry has evolved so much since the beginning, the numbers are quite astonishing.

Once of the results of the conference is the forming of a new national aviation club, similar to Future Farmers of America, that will allow more opportunity for school funding to push these new high school programs, and will provide a way for more students to get exposure to the aviation industry. This will include more learning opportunities for the students outside of the classroom. The aviation association is also launching a program that will help boost these new programs by offering grants, scholarships, and funding. Maybe with these new programs and this new organization we will finally see the increase in aviation professionals that we once saw many, many years ago.

Source:

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/11/09/new-push-to-get-kids-interested-in-aviation-jobs