Transport Minister Mohamed Ameen has said that there are a lot of students who have returned after studying pilot training who are unemployed, adding this could become a national issue later.

Speaking at a news conference held at Senako Malam at Voice of Maldives to brief the media about the work done by the Transport Ministry, Minister Ameen said that considering the number of students undergoing pilot training, it is likely to be a major national issue in the next one or two years.

He said that last year alone, 400 scholarships were given out for pilot training.

"We have to see to what extent these cadet pilots can be employed as per the aviation standards in the Maldives. No airline can run fully with cadet pilots. If I am not mistaken, cadet pilots are employed by Maldivian and TMA in the Maldives," Minister Ameen said.

According to the statistics of Maldivian and TMA, cadet pilots cannot be more than 30 percent, he said, adding that the growth rate of aviation in the country is six to seven percent and hence it is difficult for pilots who are currently studying with unemployed pilots to get jobs.

"No other country in the world employs cadet pilots and since they have a backlog of cadet pilots, priority is given to their own," Minister Ameen said said.

He further said that the students who are studying piloting should be trained and gained experience using the resources available in the country, adding that the students studying piloting have done well in O-level and A level and there is a possibility that this will have a negative impact on the human resource sector of the country as well.

Minister Ameen said pilot scholarships opened by the previous government would not be cancelled as some of the students who received the scholarships and were still in the country would talk about pursuing a different field.