State hotel institute earmarks plans, ups intake
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Sunil Dissanayaka with some of his staff at the BMICH
The government this year is targeting over 180,000 jobs in the tourism industry with a new skills training programme that has commenced alongside opening five more hotel schools around the country. Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM) Chairman Sunil Dissanayaka in an interview with the Business Times recently said that they have enhanced the student intake and looked at faculty development, and enhanced the hotel schools network.
Employment
The SLITHM is looking at providing the required staff of 23,360 in all hotels for the 2016 – 2017 period where there would be 197 hotels and 11,645 rooms. Employment directly in hotels and restaurants requires 1,168 managerial staff, 2,336 at the supervisory level and 19,856 in the operational sector. This is being explained in the strategic direction plan for 2016-2018 that will be catering to about 60 per cent of the total required staff by 2017, Mr. Dissanayaka said.
In this respect the government is looking at establishing a job portal to ensure that the industry could have access to, in a bid to attract the right persons for the job, he said. Moreover, plans are afoot to increase the hotel schools network aimed at looking at the capability to enhance the student intake, the Chairman said. The intake is expected to increase by 10 per cent in 2017 and 2018 as per the strategic plan, it was noted.
Hotel schools network
The network of hotel schools have been enhanced by opening up three new facilities in Hambantota, Passikudah and Negombo, in keeping in line with the developments in these areas as well, Mr. Dissanayaka said. Two more are to be opened with one in Polonnaruwa scheduled for this month and later in September a school in Jaffna to cater to students from these areas to gain increased accessibility to quality education as provided by the state institution, it was pointed out.
The hotel schools will be expanding on their curriculums as well by reviewing and amending them to meet the current industry requirements.
SLITHM was founded in 1964 by Swiss and German government with lecturers from these countries. However today without bringing foreign expertise, the institute has planned to send their faculties overseas for about three weeks training, Mr. Dissanayaka said. He explained that another batch of three lecturers was due to travel to Germany on a programme funded by the Goethe Institute.
This kind of exposure, the Chairman pointed out was a strong way of learning and delivering the quality education required to meet today’s standards. At present the hotel school is in talks with Canadian, Australian and Dutch government to provide faculty development, student exchange programmes and curriculum development. As part of the development of this network the SLITHM would be looking at providing accommodation for students and faculties, Mr. Dissanayaka said.
He pointed out that they have introduced an 8-day weekend apprenticeship course for immediate employment creation to cater to industry requirements at skill level for those with less than Ordinary Level qualifications. A scholarship scheme is also being introduced for this programme. This is currently in progress and the third intake has been advertised, the Chairman noted adding that this would ensure that those entering the profession would get a quick training and would not have to waste time in getting a job either.
The training is for restaurant and bar, kitchen, housekeeping and front office who would be later recruited as trainees in hotels. In addition, the SLITHM is looking at providing soft skills training with a proper induction and orientation programme which is currently lacking, he explained.
Further he noted they have commenced a public awareness programme for career choices with the first in Kurunegala which is being replicated at other provincial colleges. The SLITHM has also been able to attract at least 10 industry professionals to enroll as visiting lecturers and later also induce the best students to join the faculty upon graduation.
Issues and way forward
The SLITHM students are faced with issues of entry into jobs hotels and restaurants, Mr. Dissanayaka explained. Further he pointed out that the students have the knowledge but are not given the opportunity to display it and be creative. On the other hand, the hotels are more concerned about the food and beverage cost without giving value addition to the service they provide, the Chairman noted. He pointed out that “some of our hotel’s standards are higher than in the Middle East. Overall they are on the same levels as their international counterparts.” Mr. Dissanayaka observed that today the pay in Colombo hotels and in the Middle East was almost similar considering the service charges.
In this respect, there is a general slowdown in the migration for jobs in overseas hotels with the kind of hotel brands currently available in Sri Lanka. In fact, it was noted that most people were coming back to Sri Lanka to take up positions in some of the international chains opening here. Mr. Dissanayaka also explained that another trend observed today was that unlike in the 1970s and 1990s when there was quite a big population of females joining the industry, times have now changed. “This is due to the availability of other professions and the BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) industry,” that the numbers have reduced, he said.
| SLITHM becomes regulator | |
| The Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM) is to also double-up as a regulator which would certify new hotel schools in future in the country. The institute’s Chairman Sunil Dissanayaka told the Business Times that they were ready to regulate private hotels schools as under the Tourism Act of 2005 the institute is entrusted with this authority. The Tertiary Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) is the current approving body but SLITHM should be allowed to provide the required certification for a new hotel school to be established in the country, he noted. “We are looking at giving out our curriculum to the institutes and the hotels which have properly structured training departments,” he said. This is being carried out with the aim of ensuring that quality education prospers without mushrooming institutes. |