School courses throw out lifeline to skills shortage

Senior figures in hospitality are lending their support to the Government's proposals for secondary education reform in the hope that it will open the door to more industry-specific courses.

A newly published paper, Excellence and Opportunity from 14 to 19, follows last February's education Green Paper which warned that too many young people were becoming disillusioned with academic studies.

The Government is now seeking to engage more young people by introducing vocationally based GCSEs.

Although a vocational GCSE for Leisure and Tourism was introduced last September, the Government's 2005 deadline for introduction of new qualifications still gives the hospitality sector time to push for a Catering and Hospitality GCSE.

"If you identify people post 12 years of age that are not academic, it makes sense to give them alternatives they really want to study," said Mike Stapleton, UK corporate affairs manager at Compass Group.

The proposals were welcomed by Paul Heathcote, founder of the Paul Heathcote School of Excellence and managing director of Heathcote Restaurants: "If you go back 25 years, the hospitality industry was given less emphasis, because career masters were recommending secure jobs in banking.

"Nowadays there are no secure jobs in banking, but our industry employs more and more."

And the introduction of the new courses could go some way to addressing the chronic skills shortage affecting the industry. Figures published by the Hospitality Training Foundation revealed that 56% of vacancies in the hospitality industry remained unfilled last year.

Anne Walker, managing director of the industry charity Springboard UK, said: "The hospitality industry is continually telling us that 14- to 19-year-olds do not have the necessary workplace skills to take up employment in this sector. The changes will provide a much-needed balance between academic and vocational learning."

Hospitality professionals pointed out, however, that any new qualification would have to reflect modern values. Peter Richards, chef-director at Westminster Kingsway, stressed: "It shouldn't bear any resemblance to the old domestic science."

The Government has appointed Mike Tomlinson, former chief inspector of schools, to head a working group on the proposals.

What the industry thinks

"There should be a practical element [in the courses], but it should also develop social skills, too, which are what the hospitality industry is all about. We should be teaching young people how to give a smile and a goodbye, because that's no less basic than being able to construct a sentence in the English language."

Paul Heathcote, founder of the Heathcote School of Excellence and managing director of Heathcote Restaurants.

"We should have been tapping into this a long time ago, but the industry has got to play its part, too. We all need to look at ourselves - we need to bring the education and the industry together."

Peter Richards, chef-director, Westminster Kingsway College.

Tell us your views. Is the introduction of catering-related courses in schools a good idea? Will it benefit the industry? What do you think the courses should cover? Write to Chris Druce at Caterer, or e-mail him at Chris.Druce@rbi.co.uk.

by Dan Bignold and Chris Druce

Source: Caterer and Hotelkeeper magazine, 30 January - 5 February 2003