Jobs for Hotel School students in Doha Qatar

by L. S. A. Wedaarachchi

Forty-five Hotel School students who completed a two-month crash course on the hotel sector have been recruited by a leading hotel in Doha Qatar.

The remaining 120 students who followed the same course will be given employment in Middle East soon, Deputy Minister of Tourism Faiszer Musthapa said.

The Deputy Minister was speaking at a ceremony at the Hotel school Auditorium Colombo. He said that unemployed Sri Lankan youth has enormous job opportunities in the Middle East hotel sector which is the fastest growing employment sector.

The Middle East and Europe used skilled workers. The Sri Lanka Hotel School with the assistance of the Kandy Hotels Association provided training for three months to 165 school leavers from the rural community on the trade, he said.

The Acting Chairman - Ceylinco Group Dr. Cecille Kotalawela has volunteered to granting loans to students to obtain air tickets to the Middle East.

The students can remit money under the Seylan Bank fast cash scheme. A. Dhammika, a student in Kandy said that he had not gone to a five star or a three star hotel before this program. 'We are being selected for employment abroad because of the training given by the Hotel School. "It is surprising that we secured jobs at Rs. 50,000 per month in a leading Hotel in Doha Qatar," he said.

The Principal, Sri Lanka Institute of Hotel Management and Tourism (SLITHM) Kamal S. Hapuwatta said that our target this year is to train 2,000 school leavers from the rural community.

"Short term crash courses will be conducted in Anuradhapura, Hambantota, Kandy and Colombo with the assistance of provincial hotel associations", he said.