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.”