A distance learning diploma worth considering

If you’re keen to improve your knowledge of freight forwarding, the Iata/ Fiata Air Cargo Distance Learning Diploma is worth considering, says management consultant Chris Richards. Managed by the Iata Training Institute based in Canada, the course must be completed over a consecutive three-year period, with written exams the main method of assessment. “The fact that Iata and Fiata have combined to offer the diploma is recognition of the need for participants in global supply chains to have a sound grasp of all the links in those chains – from dangerous goods, air cargo rating and conditions of carriage to weight limitations and world geography,” says Richards. “A student who is currently enrolled on the course, and who has been in the industry for about eight years, admitted to me how much he has had to learn, even although he had completed two of the local airline courses.” This diploma does not involve unit standards, says Richards, particularly those that have nothing to do with freight. “There is a curriculum based on required knowledge and operational skills, and students must study it all. This is how universities work in South Africa, and something that industry leaders with any concept of skills development and vocational training should be noting.”