Hotel staff to receive refresher training after COVID-19

Although Uganda boasts of sh4.9 trillion as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from the hospitality sector, the sector still grapples with a lack of skilled personnel to boost invisible trade.

To address the poor hospitality services and marketing, the Uganda Hotel Owners' Association in partnership with Swisscontact and the Directorate of industrial training, has developed a well-structured and standardised curriculum to train young people involved.

Speaking during a meeting with hotel owners, Suzan Muhwezi, the chairperson of UHOA, noted the training will equip young people working in the hotel sector with the opportunities to access the right skills to grow their careers.

"I believe the time is right for us to train our staff so as to be prepared when the tourism industry picks up after the COVID-19 pandemic. The training guide was developed basing on the practical experience of various chefs in the country, this comes at the right time as many of our staff return to work after having spent almost three months at home and will, therefore, require to take up refresher courses to be able to carry out their duties effectively," Muhwezi noted.

"Uganda has everything it takes to succeed and has become one of the most preferred destinations in Africa, Nonetheless, gaps exist in both technical and soft skills which need to be addressed for the industry to blossom, people have been receiving different trainings but the country did not have a well-structured, coherent guide," said Pavlos Troulis, the Swisscontact country director.

The training is targeting young people in food production, housekeeping and tour guides. They will acquire relevant market and technical skills that will enable them to remain competitive in the job market.

Over the years, the challenge of poorly trained professionals in the tourism and hospitality industry has been rising, and the body responsible for hotel owners was struggling to say there was little they could do.

"This Curriculum has come at the right time, 77% of workers in the hotel are aged 18-30 but they are poorly trained. Our human resource is not competitive, this has forced many hotel owners to hire foreigners who are expensive, but they are highly trained," said Henry Wanyama, a chef.

The course will last for 6 months and will cover an introduction to cookery, kitchen hygiene and safety, preparing breakfast, beverages, fast food, cuisines, baking products, food servicing and performing elementary administrative tasks.

Cooks will learn different jargon, phrases and terminologies used in the kitchen, acquire techniques in cooking different dishes, cutting different meat shapes, use of cooking oil and understanding categories of herbs and spices.

"A beneficiary will choose to undertake all training clusters one after the other or select the applicable ones depending on relevance. For formal recognition of skills acquired under this arrangement, trainees will register for National assessment with the Directorate of industrial training (DIT) which will enable successful candidates get a certificate," noted Patrick Byakatonda, a director at DIT.