Salesian Program Helps Economically Disadvantaged Youth Find Careers in Hospitality Industry

TRASI, INDIA (December 9, 2011) - A Salesian technical skills training program in India is giving poor youth job opportunities in the service industry. Don Bosco Technical Institute in Trasi, in collaboration with Taj Group of Hotels and India’s ministry of Rural Development has created a new program in Hospitality Management. This program aims to train poor youth - both boys and girls - in employable skills such as hotel housekeeping and food and beverage service.

What began as a pilot program to give poor youth an opportunity for education and training in an area of employment that is growing and has available jobs, is now responsible for training more than 200 students. The most recent graduating class of 34 students had a 100 percent employment rate upon graduation. According to an article in The Hindu, most of the graduates find careers in multinational companies such as Tata Yazaki, Kirloskar, Pizza Hut and the Taj Hotel, Mothi Mahal.

“Through this technical skills training program youth are able to find not just jobs but careers which helps ensure a bright future and the potential for life-time stability,” said Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. fundraising arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco.

Fr. Hyde, who recently returned from India where he visited Salesian programs throughout the country, added “Jobs in the hospitality industry are available in India and around the world. But the skills our students learn are applicable to many different careers.”

The hospitality industry requires more from its employees than simple pleasantries. The work requires good organizational skills and a high level of competence. Don Bosco’s Hospitality Management Program requires much of its students but gives a lot in return. Students are required to have the right blend of attitude, soft skills, grooming and competence in hospitality technical skills in order to graduate and be placed into employment.

This program is a true collaboration between the Don Bosco Technical Institute and hotel executives from Taj Group in Kerala, who are actively involved in student training. Students must successfully complete three months of classroom training before being placed into another three months of hands-on job training in hotels. At the end of the full six month program, students are ready for employment and are placed in front-line positions in the hospitality industry. Through the combination of classroom and hands-on experience students learn valuable soft skills, lessons in communication, personality development, and hospitality theory.

In order to help disadvantaged youth from socially and economically challenged backgrounds develop life-long employable skills, the training is offered free of charge. The program helps participants become stable, independent and able to give back to their families and communities.

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Sources:

ANS (Salesian Info Agency)

The Hindu Business Line

The Hindu