SLF launches Craft Level Certificate Courses in hotel industry

Monday, 31 December 2012 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Sri Lanka Foundation (SLF), Sri Lanka’s National Centre for leadership, education and training coming under the purview of the Presidential Secretariat, has in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management (SLITHM) launched Craft Level Certificate Courses in the basic discipline of Front Office, House Keeping, Kitchen Production and Cookery, and Restaurant and Bar in order to enhance employability in the tourism and hospitality industry.

The American Chamber of Commerce is also contributing as a strategic partner which provides industrial support to the Tourism and Hospitality Management Unit of Sri Lanka Foundation.

The tourism industry demand in Sri Lanka is enhancing 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 programs 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.

These programs will be conducted as three month courses which cover both theory and practical aspects in hotel management. Chandra Mohotti, Chairman – SLITHM, G.S. Wijewardene, Director General/CEO – SLITHM, Vijaya Ratnayake, President – AMCHAM, and Prof. Ranjith Bandara, Chairman – SLF graced this occasion. Leading industrial specialists and professionals were also among the participants.

The Sri Lanka Foundation is known to be the foremost and pioneering adult education centre in Sri Lanka, established in 1974 consequent to an agreement between the Sri Lanka Foundation and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. Today, the Sri Lanka Foundation is on a stronger footing under an Act of Parliament, the Sri Lanka Foundation Law No.31 of 1973. The Sri Lanka Foundation functions autonomously under the purview of the President of Sri Lanka and is managed by a Board of Management.

SLF offers a wide range of academic programs in dynamic fields, namely, Social and Institutional Development, Psychology and Counselling, Business and Enterprise Management, Language and ICT, and Digital Film Academy. Its novel and latest addition is the centre for wellbeing to foster and nurture multi-dimensional aspects of improving quality of life.

For information on this program. contact Bharatha Herath, coordinator for this program and Tourism and Hospitality Management Unit on 0718281883 www.slf.lk.