The Swiss Hotel Management Academy Pvt. Ltd. (SHMA) of A. Baur & Co. Pvt Ltd., also known as Baurs, in its pursuit to empower the country’s youth to take on the hospitality industry to greater heights, recently announced its first center of the Skills for Sustainable Growth (SSG) program at the Naula National Youth Corps based in Matale district.
This initiative comes after a careful evaluation based on the wide spread of hotels in the surrounding areas and considering the low-income levels of the potential students in Matale district. Recently, SHMA signed an MoU with the National Youth Corps of Sri Lanka (NYC) where many other centers will be established across the country in phases.
The SSG program is a private and public sector partnership between Baurs and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the agency for international cooperation of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) of Switzerland.
Currently, SHMA has enrolled a total of 54 students at the Naula National Youth Corps centre, facilitated by Mr. Damitha Alwis who inaugurated the batch of students, and applying a centre learning approach to ensure their success through the facilitation of the program. The course content, which is based on a Swiss Vocational Skills Development (VSD) curriculum, includes 3 months theoretical lessons,1 and half months blended learning and 4 and half month’s internship at a star class hotel. Further, soft skills development workshops are being provided to develop underprivileged students to challenge their unconventional thoughts and behaviors and excel in the hospitality trade.
NYC is also providing a 14-day life skills training with team building activities and personal development which has a tremendous impact over the student transformation. This is evident in every student who is enrolled at NYC. Students also have access to the Learning Management System (LMS) enabling them to engage in their course work at their convenience, and each student is monitored and given their due consideration and attention with this new approach.
Numerous hotels have pledged their support towards the SSG program and are willing to extend their cooperation towards providing blended learning and internship opportunities for students. The SSG project will go onto create 2,240 skilled young men and women by 2025 including increased female participation in hospitality education to 40%. The distinctiveness of the project is that two-third of its curriculum weighs towards practical on-the-job training coupled with internships and possible extension in various hotels, challenging the current practices when it comes to hospitality education.
The diverse and experienced professionals at SHMA will facilitate the programme at NYC in producing competent and employable youth, whilst NYC continues to support the SSG project.
SHMA survey revealed that 92.3% of students received promotions either in their current employment or within a new organization, with over 75% of the students employed at 5-star establishments at present, and many have enjoyed a significant increase in their earning capacity.
SHMA is an education institute that facilitates high-class education at international standards, producing highly qualified hoteliers. The academy is also licensed to deliver the VET (Vocational Education Training) by EHL Professional Diploma program offering specialized tracks in Culinary, Food & Beverage, and Hotel Operations, which is provided by École hôtelière de Lausanne, a pioneer in hospitality education since 1893, with a global network of over 25,000 alumni representing more than 120 nationalities.