SLF signs an agreement with MOE for hospitality courses
View(s):The Sri Lanka Foundation (SLF), is the Centre for Leadership, Education and Training coming under the purview of the Presidential Secretariat has signed an agreement with the ‘Education for Knowledge Society Project’ funded by the Asian Development Bank to 
conduct a Craft Level Certificate Course incorporating the basic disciplines of Front Office, House Keeping, Kitchen Production & Cookery, and also Restaurant & Bar. This course will lead to a “Professional Certificate in Craft Level Hotel Management”. This is a Tourist Sector Training Scholarship programme that has been planned with the aim of enhancing the prospects of employability with relevance to the tourism industry and is meant particularly for O/L and A/L students who have not qualified for higher education.
Sri Lanka Foundation & The Ministry of Education have realized the potential of the Tourism & Hotel industry and the job market demand in accordance with the trend analysis that has been done by the Ceylon Tourist Board up to the year 2016, which is shown below.
1. Promote tourism to reach the envisaged annual tourist arrival of a 2.5 Mn target by the year 2016
2. Increase the annual foreign exchange earnings to USD 2.75 Bn by the year 2016
3. Attract over USD 3 Bn Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) into the country within the next three years
4. Increase the room capacity to 45,000 rooms to accommodate the tourists
5. Employment to 375,000 locals.
As state owned responsible organizations we have decided to utilize our knowledge & assets to achieve the overall target considering its contribution to the national policies of the Government towards Economic development. The SLF Tourism and Hospitality Management Unit was set up with a view to offer academic support to enhance the rate of employability to reach the target envisaged. We are also very enthusiastic to take this further in view of the long term benefits to society.
Photo from Right to Left Mr. Dilhan Goonathilake, Coordinator, BEDU-SLF Mr. Bharatha Herath, Coordinator, THMU-SLF Mr. Gareth McComic, Consultant/Lecturer, SLF Prof. Ranjith Bandara, Chairman, SLF Mr. Jayantha Rathnayake, Hospitality Manager, SLF Mr. Ranjith Kumarasiri, Education Specialist, ADBEKSP, MOE Mr. PHJ Arunasiri, Director, SLFI Mr. Samantha Rathnayake, Consultant Academic Affairs, SLF
In the Industrial perspective the creation of breeding grounds for lucrative jobs in the Hotel industry in Sri Lanka is of high potential when compared with the respective professions like Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, Accountants and Marketers. The Global demand for our savvy professionals in the Hotel industry is growing and the demand in Sri Lanka is increasing rapidly and will be an effective agent in minimizing the unemployment rate in Sri Lanka. Unemployment can be attributed to various reasons. However, the gap between skills required by employers and the skills of young job seekers’ has become the major contributor to the increasing rate of unemployment among them. Most applicants lack the “soft skills” required by the potential job market. Hence, the main objective of the above programme is to bridge the gap between the availability and the requirement of the job market with reference to the level of soft and technical skills related to the hospitality industry of students who pass out from the schools in Sri Lanka and who wish to embark on a career through soft skills and industrial experience in the Hospitality Industry.
The above Programme will be conducted as a one month course which covers minimum 200 contact hours including both theory and practical aspects in Hotel Management. This is a Scholarship programme and SLF has been assigned to train students of low income families who are school leavers after their O/L and A/L examinations and who have not qualified for higher education. This project is only for school leavers in the Western Province. If you need any information regarding this programme pls. contact Mr. Pitigala, Provincial project manager “Education for knowledge society”-Ministry of Education – 011-2690479 or Mr. Bharatha Herath, coordinator of the Tourism and Hospitality Management Unit of SLF on 071 8281883.
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