The Compass Group Chef Academy will have an initial intake of 36 learners, which will be trained by the Compass Group, a leading food service company.
“The academy will provide the focus and priority needed to raise the skills standard in South Africa, and ensure the industry attracts, retains and develops a high quality workforce which will significantly help to address the skills shortage across the tourism and hospitality industries,” said the Presidency in a statement.
The initiative is a partnership with the Swiss Hotel School and Umsobomvu Youth Fund, supported by The Presidency under the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA).
JIPSA was launched in March 2006 to deliver on the skills requirements of government's Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA).
Led by Mlambo-Ngcuka, AsgiSA is mandated to pave the way for gross domestic product growth rates of 6% by 2010.
Ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa is expected to have opened up about 80,000 job opportunities in the local tourism and hospitality sector.
This is according to a skills audit by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT).
The audit indicated that over the next three years, the industry will require about 24,100 cooks and chefs, 23,500 waiters and waitresses, 15,000 cleaners, 7,800 cashiers and 8,000 managerial staff.
Director for the School of Tourism and Hospitality at the University of Johannesburg, Professor Daneel van Lill, said one of the key challenges within the industry at present was that demand for staff far outstrips supply.
Speaking at the first ever international and national Tourism and Hospitality Colloquium, Tuesday, Prof van Lill said the hospitality training industry is set to undergo a major revamp.
This will have a key emphasis on quality training, to ensure that the country is sufficiently prepared with qualified people, systems and resources for 2010 and beyond.
"These challenges are common knowledge in the hospitality industry, but the Colloquium presented an opportunity for industry leaders to explore ways of overcoming this challenge," said Prof van Lill.
Article published courtesy of BuaNews
