SHMA partners NYC under SSG project to empower hospitality sector youth

Baurs CEO/Managing Director Rolf Blaser (right) exchanging the MoU with National Youth Corps of  Sri Lanka  Director Brig. Sujeewa Rathnayake

With the aim of encouraging and empowering the youth of Sri Lanka in equipping themselves with the required skills and talent to take on as tomorrow’s leaders in the hospitality industry, the Swiss Hotel Management Academy Pvt. Ltd. (SHMA) of A. Baur & Co. Pvt Ltd., also known as Baurs, recently signed an MoU with the National Youth Corps of Sri Lanka (NYC).
NYC which comes under the purview of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs will now be a learning partner for the Skills for Sustainable Growth (SSG) project, 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.
NYC is the pioneering state training institution dedicated to youth development since 2002 with 58 training centers across the island, grooming and guiding the youth through its unique training modules, ranging from soft skills, academic, vocational, recreational to community based. Established in 2014, La Hotelier in Dambulla managed by NYC is a prestigious hotel school where several batches of graduates have gone onto being employed by leading hotels and restaurants in Sri Lanka. 

The MoU was signed on 17th October at the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs’ auditorium. Representing SHMA and Baurs were Rolf Blaser, CEO/Managing Director; Pavithra Samarasinghe, Director Finance and Compliance; Daniela Munasinghe, GM of Education and Tourism, Sureeka Fernando, SHMA Manager; Cheryl Arndt, Project Leader. And from NYC, its Director Brig. Sujeewa Rathnayake, Add. Director Training and Development Saman Kulasuriya, Director Central Province Major. Ashoka Wijerathne, and Asst. Director Development Inoka Gunawardhana. 

The SSG project aims to create 2,240 skilled young men and women by 2025 including increased female participation in hospitality education to 40 percent, with a two-third of its curriculum weighing towards practical on-the-job training coupled with internships and possible extension in various hotels. SHMA will also be opening a total of eight SSG centers by the end of 2025.