Baurs partners with Swiss govt. to uplift hospitality education and bridge skills gap in SL

With the view of uplifting the hospitality education sector in Sri Lanka, the Swiss Hospitality & Management Academy (SHMA) of A. Baur & Co. Pvt Ltd. also known as Baurs, a leading

conglomerate with diversified business interests, recently established a private and public sector partnership with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). 
The official signing was held on December 08th at the Embassy of Switzerland in Colombo. The contract exchange took place between Baurs MD and CEO Rolf Blaser and Dr. D. Furgler, Swiss Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives.

The Skills for Sustainable Growth (SSG) initiative came about during the height of the pandemic and has seen tremendous participation from both Baurs and SDC. At a time when the hospitality and tourism industry came to a standstill with increasing talent migration, Rolf Blaser discovered the Switzerland-based RIESCO programme and quickly felt fervent of it being a practical and immediate solution in addressing the widening skills gap.  

During end last year, officials from Baurs held a briefing with the Swiss Ambassador and introduced SHMA and the various solutions from an educational standpoint. With further discussions earlier this year, Baurs proposed a collaboration opportunity with SDC to localize and implement the RIESCO programme in the country.
Designed by Hotel &Gastro Formation, the RIESCO program is aimed at migrants entering Switzerland, who are heavily reliant on state welfare system. The program methodology and content ensure that one completes the program in the shortest possible time and acquires the necessary skills that are highly employable, translating them into active participants in the hospitality sector and economy.

The SSG program aims to create 2,240 skilled young men and women within three years, with the first batch of student intake of 240 scheduled to take place during July 2023, followed by training 800 students in 2024 and 1,200 students in 2025, including increasing female representation to 40 percent from the current industry levels exhibiting below 10pct. This will cover core hospitality operations and soft skills development including hospitality English, grooming and etiquette, and basic IT skills.
The districts will include Jaffna, Trincomalee, Ampara, Puttalam, Kurunegala, Kandy, Badulla, Nuwara Eliya, Monaragala, Rathnapura, Batticaloa, Anuradhapura, Hambantota among others, with a drive to also identify potential learning centres within the districts.

The certificate programme runs for 9 months, with the first six months comprising of 70 percent practical classroom learning and 30 percent theoretical knowledge, and thereafter take up a 3-month internship with possible extension to 6 months. 
Baurs has already partnered with many hotels in facilitating these internships, with more joining onboard. The programme will pursue a hybrid teaching model where a SHMA faculty member will be placed at each learning center for 6 months upon implementation, ensuring that it’s well absorbed and in line with the standards and frameworks of the learning curriculum.