MUMBAI- India’s DGCA conducts the Aircraft Maintenance Engineering (AME) Module exam 3-4 times in general sessions and around the same in OLODE sessions, i.e., Online On-Demand Examination.
Well, both exams conducted by DGCA’s Central Examination Organisation (CEO) are the same but have huge fee differences. DGCA charges 1,500 rs for regular exams, but for On-Demand, which is not on demand and has a fixed schedule, it charges 3,000 rs, which is a direct double. So, in today’s article, we will talk about DGCA’s unfair and unjustifiable examination system.
DGCA AME Module Exam: Unfair?
First of all, we would like to thank the All India Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Union (AIAMEU) for discussing these topics and for providing guidance to write this article.
The AIAMEU Dy. Secretary Mr Suraj Kumar wrote an email to DGCA CEO’s Pariksha portal regarding the rechecking and increasing transparency in the exam.
However, they closed the query without investigation, and later, after mailing them again by Suraj Kumar, they said no provision for rechecking and kindly checked the final results.
On what basis does DGCA publish results without showing proof of questions with correct answers? They must provide proper results, recheck provisions, and show candidates their results in detail (not just marks and pass or fail), added AIAMEU Dy. Secretary.
Other important government exams don’t have considerably higher fees, and they also provide transparent and ethical results to candidates.
For the last 8-9 years, the Mission AME graduation founding member and recently the secretary of AIAMEU, Mr. Prashant Patel, has been fighting to make the AME course equivalent to a BSc Degree, and while in talk with senior DGCA officials, they agreed on it. However, so far, no progress has been made by DGCA, and we request that they act swiftly on this and make it happen as soon as possible.
DGCA charges heavy fees for exams with no degree, and candidates struggle to get jobs in the field. Further, it is almost impossible to get jobs in other sectors. Despite being called an engineering course, it’s very different from the actual engineering degree.
I personally suggest you all follow them and support their cause, which demands better working conditions and fair pay for aircraft maintenance trainees, technicians, and engineers.
Alright, let’s discuss the three main issues with the DGCA AME Module Exam
- No Transparency
- No Provision for Rechecking
- Unfair Fees and Value of Module Papers
1) No Transparency | Problem
Those who enrolled in the DGCA exam know there is no transparency in the complete exam procedure. Let me elaborate on this,
a) DGCA has no fixed schedule for conducting examinations; due to this, many candidates, especially those working in the field, face various issues like no leave, being forced to travel to centers that are far away, and no clear timeline for exam preparation. There are DGCA candidates who work abroad face more challenges in getting leave, visas, and tickets.
b) Furthermore, while filling out the exam form, there are payment failures, there is a delay in getting refunds for such failures, and sometimes there is no refund at all.
c) No dedicated exam centers; candidates are forced to travel to centers far away from their base. This seems a small issue, but those working in the field know the pain.
d) During the exam, there are issues with the server, and due to this, the candidate faces many hurdles like less time, hung computers, sometimes no technical support from the team, etc. Also, there are spelling mistakes in questions and options, and candidates get confused. Not revealing the question with correct answers like other govt exams.
e) DGCA has no clear book and syllabus for exam schedules like EASA, from which India’s DGCA has copied the complete exam procedure but has failed to copy some clear guidelines.
And many small problems affect the overall exam experience of candidates. So what’s the solution for this? Well, after personally experiencing problems myself and getting candidates’ feedback, I have suggested some solutions below:
Solution
a) DGCA Must take a clear schedule, which should include 1) the form filling date, 2) the Date of the Admit Card issue, 3) the Date of the Exam, and 4) Finally, the date of the result for that session.
b) DGCA should invest the exam funds in improving the quality of servers and questions and reduce such failures in Payments. They must refund the amount immediately as candidates sometimes have no funds to refill the form.
c) The Indian regulator needs to fix the exam location or atleast make students aware of changes while they are filling out the exam form so they can decide whether to appear for the exam or not.
d) They must make clear syllabi and all-in-one module books for better knowledge and guidance, like EASA, Which has only one book and is still a renowned authority worldwide.
e) Last but not least, DGCA must reveal the correct answers so students can know where they committed the mistakes, rectify them, and learn from them. Otherwise, what is the use of taking the exam? They will continue to fail until they know their mistake and will be forced to pay heavy exam fees without knowing whether they actually failed or intentionally failed.
2) No Rechecking Provision
As mentioned above, there is no rechecking provision in the DGCA exam. Despite being a government exam, this is completely unfair and unethical because all government exams have this facility.
Forget about rechecking; DGCA is not publishing clear results, such as which questions the candidate failed to answer and what the actual answer was.
So I request DGCA to look into it, and as this is the govt exam, they must make it transparent and fairer for candidates appearing in the exam by letting them know their mistakes. Further, please try to publish the results instantly, as before.
3) Unfair Fees and Value of Module Papers
The most important issue with the DGCA exam is unfair fees; DGCA charges different fees for the same exam. If it’s actually On-demand, we must understand that it takes them lots of work. But it’s the same exam with the same form filling, admit card, exam centers, and late results, so why are candidates forced to pay twice the regular fees?
So we request that justified fees be charged and a real OLODE Exam conducted.
Furthermore, there is no value for module papers as there are no proper certificates issued by DGCA for those who have cleared all their respective modules in their respective categories.
In reality, there are no added benefits like better pay, a good position, or any advantages in the field for candidates who have cleared all their papers. They will be called technicians no matter how many papers they have cleared.
We request that DGCA issue certificates for such candidates and also make a new position, such as Certified Technicians and non-certified technicians (Just a suggestion). So they can get better pay, more benefits, and better ranks.
That’s all from our side on writing about the real problems candidates face in the DGCA AME Module exam and possible solutions.
Note: The article does not reflect the views of Aviation A2Z, and these are the author’s personal views. We do not intend to hurt the sentiments of DGCA, candidates, and others; we just recommend that the exam be more transparent, friendly, and ethical.
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