Though perhaps not earth-shattering news, a group of National Institute for Professional Advancement (NIPA) Hospitality One students receiving their food handler certificate (see Thursday paper) was a significant moment. They are now ready to enter the labour market.
As a country with a tourism economy, the gastronomic industry is obviously important and plenty of employment opportunities can usually be found in that area. While bringing in chefs from abroad with certain specialities may be justified, most of these jobs should be going to locals.
Being part of commercial kitchen staff is no walk in the park either, of course. It often involves hard physical work under considerable time-pressure and even hot, less comfortable circumstances.
However, people will always need to eat and especially visitors depend on restaurants. Hence, those who love to cook and are good at it tend to be in considerable demand.
While Sundial School and University of St. Martin also offer hospitality programmes, NIPA’s contribution in this regard has grown over the years. This was no doubt boosted by its key role in the post-Hurricane Irma Emergency Income Support and Training Project paid for by the Dutch-sponsored Trust Fund to the tune of US $22.5 million, in which 1,960 persons left (partially) unemployed due to the storm’s widespread devastation upgraded their existing job skills and/or learned a new trade.
As stated before, the nature of the island’s dominant hospitality sector requires many hands-on occupations because it’s primarily based on providing service. That also means vocational and professional education, in addition to the more academic version, should get the attention and respect they deserve.
