Editor,
On April 1, 2014, there was some kind of get together in Nagaland House, Nongrim Hills. There was a band playing and being so near to the hospital the noise was highly disturbing for the patients. It was insensitive on the part of the organizers to have a band playing when there is a hospital right across the premises. Patients in the ICU suffered the most. The organizers could have arranged the party at a hall or some other place which is not located so close to the hospital. It would be helpful if the Dorbar Shnong and the Government take cognizance of this letter and disallow such events in and around areas which are near hospitals.
Yours etc.,
Datngen Bha Kharpuri
Of unemployable youth
Editor,
The report in your esteemed daily, “Less than 11 pc of hotel management graduates employable” did not come as a surprise. This data is published by ‘ASPIRING MINDS NATIONAL EMPLOYABILITY REPORT.’ This is evident from the falling standards of service in majority of the hotels, resorts, airlines, cruises, industries etc. Only very few have managed to maintain the high standards of service but how long will they will be able to sustain it? It is indeed an alarming situation and it’s about time we face this reality. Hotel Management education is all about imparting employable skills to under graduates so as to enable them to be successful in the competitive hotel industry. Skills to be imparted comprise culinary skills, food & beverage service skills, housekeeping skills, front office skills, soft skills and of course the technology skills associated with all departments of the hotel. But how many hotel management institutes provide these basic skills? Lack of standardized curriculum for the under graduate program, lack of qualified and skilled faculty, absence of updated infrastructure are some factors which need to be addressed by the hotel management institutes. The basic urge of students to learn is diminishing gradually. During the three years of under-graduate studies rarely has one come across a student who sits back in the library to gain add- on knowledge. For any solution, the new age graduates depend on “Google.” Up to some extent this does assist but ultimately experience far surpasses Google. In case of any critical situation, one’s experience plays a vital role in finding a solution.
Now why have we reached to this alarming situation? Until a couple of decades ago it was considered prestigious to enroll oneself in a hotel management institute and later join renowned hotel groups but that is no longer the case. Why are institutes not able to produce quality graduates? The reason is that good students are attracted to other arenas of employability after passing out as hotel management graduates. It is a fact that the hotel industry is losing its charm as the preferred industry for employment by the hotel management graduates. Can the hotel industry attract young talent and retain them over a longer period of time?
With the mushrooming of hotel management colleges across the country , mostly run by private bodies (anybody who has a few crores to spare opens up a hotel management college) , it does not matter whether or not they have basic infrastructure and skilled and qualified faculty. This is more prevalent in west Bengal where almost every district and locality has one hotel management school. When I was a student in IHM during the early nineties, there were only eleven institutes all over India run by National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Pusa, New Delhi, Now every state has one institute and some even have two which are affiliated to the National Council. Quantity has taken precedence over quality. The falling standards of hotel management graduates is attributed to lack of qualified and competent faculty. most graduates start teaching after acquiring their degrees even though they have no relevant industry experience. Industry experience is very important if one wishes to pursue a career as faculty. Theoretical knowledge is acquired in college but practical knowledge comes when they start working for 3-5 years. I have experienced it personally while teaching and training both students and faculty in places like Bangalore, Delhi etc; and even in Hotel Management Institute in Shillong which I visit as guest faculty. I am amazed to find that barring a few, the majority of faculty do not have any real industry work experience and have never seen or worked in a real professional organisation. So how do we expect them to impart a thorough professional and practical training to the young graduates when they themselves have not been through it ? Experience comes only after undergoing rigorous training under different circumstances. Those who are skilled and qualified are not willing to join these institutes and would rather look for greener pastures elsewhere. Poor salaries and future promotion prospects might be the reasons.
Its about time that National Council for Hotel Management starts paying more attention to providing quality education coupled with better infrastructure and skilled and well experienced faculty in order to prevent employability problems arising out of the lack of competent Hotel Management graduates.
Yours etc.,
Rajesh Swarnakar, AIWS.
Wine & Spirits Educator and Food & Beverage Trainer,
Via email