SHMA brings the best of Swiss hospitality to Sri Lanka with launch of VET by EHL

Minister of Education Prof. G.L. Peiris (left) and A.Baur & Company Managing Director/CEO Rolf Blaser (right) speaking at the event

The Swiss Hotel Management Academy (SHMA) launched VET by EHL, a vocational education training program by Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL), Switzerland on 25 March at Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo. The event was graced by its Chief Guest Minister of Education Prof. G.L. Peiris and saw the participation of many industry professionals and dignitaries. 

EHL is the world’s first and number one hospitality management school with over 25,000 alumni worldwide boasting a 96% employment rate among recent graduates. Based on one of the best education models in the world – the Swiss Competency Framework, the VET by EHL program is characterised by a strong learning outcomes approach and a competence-oriented structure of training. 

SHMA is the first hospitality management institute in Sri Lanka to offer an apprenticeship model through the VET by EHL programs, heralding a revolutionary change to the hospitality industry. A Baur & Company Ltd. Managing Director/CEO Rolf Blaser stated: “We are proud to breakthrough traditional thinking and embrace more innovative and ground-breaking ways that will enable students to have the required practical experience and industry relations upon completion of their study. We are challenging the status quo together with VET by EHL and taking this bold initiative for the greater good of our hospitality sector and the country as a whole.”

All certificates and diplomas are signed and issued through VET by EHL and all trainers and lecturers at SHMA comprise renowned top industry professionals. VET by EHL Head Jens-Henning Peters said: “The team at SHMA has tirelessly worked to reach to where we are today. We had the great pleasure to connect and work closely in workshops, trainings and visits with the team and we have full confidence in this collaboration.”

EHL Advisory Services Director and Regional Head Aman Aditya Sachdev said: “We are very pleased to have partnered with A.Baur & Company Ltd. for the VET by EHL programs under its SHMA umbrella. Sri Lanka is a key global tourism destination and despite the ongoing challenges I’m very convinced that Sri Lanka tourism will bounce back much sooner and stronger. This launch is a landmark initiative for the hospitality and tourism industry in Sri Lanka and we are excited to be a part of it.”

SHMA, one of Sri Lanka’s leading hospitality academies since 2012, is now licensed by EHL to deliver the VET program in four distinct streams; Culinary Professional Diploma, Service Professional Diploma, Rooms Professional Diploma and Hotel Administration Diploma. 

The program is available as an 18-month full professional diploma and/or as three independent six-month certificate modules and uses a balanced learning approach that blends real-world experience and applied management techniques with academic rigor for students to develop key operational skills for the industry as well as transferable skills for future professional growth and life-long learning. 

The apprenticeship model is an inclusive curriculum with an intense weekly two-day theoretical and practical learning followed by a comprehensive four-day ‘on-the-job’ training at select-star classed hotels that will distinct SHMA graduates as trailblazers and gamechangers in the industry. This was successfully introduced through the VET by EHL Pilot Program in February with a batch of 19 students who followed the apprenticeship model at SHMA Partner hotels; Cinnamon Grand, Cinnamon Lakeside, Taj Samudra, Galle Face Hotel and Shangri-La, Colombo while completing a six-month Food and Beverage Intermediate Certificate under the VET by EHL program. And numerous prospective partner hotels have already signed up with SHMA.