AMMAN (JT) -- The Vocational Training Corporation (VTC) will offer young Jordanians a restaurant skills training programme, under a memorandum of understanding signed on Thursday.
The memo, signed between the VTC, the ministries of labour and tourism, the Jordan Restaurant Association (JRA), and the USAID/Jordan Tourism Development Project's (Siyaha), confirms the commitment of all parties involved towards developing training centres for the training programme.
During the signing ceremony yesterday, Minister of Labour Bassem Salem expressed full support to training in the restaurant sector, according to a Siyaha statement.
"As the hospitality industry booms, sustainable development in this area is vital; thus training and employment will continue to be at the forefront of the government... and Ministry of Labour's development policy, including such specialisations as training in hospitality and restaurant," Salem said.
The memo, part of continuing efforts to upgrade the VTC hotel and tourism unit, encourages public-private partnerships between the ministries, organisations and associations involved to work towards the development of the hotel and tourism centres.
The overall goal is to improve training and education standards for students seeking careers in the tourism sector in Jordan, the statement added.
"The Jordan Restaurant Association is pleased to be part of this important initiative, and we look forward to working with the skilled graduates who will enter the restaurant industry from these centres," JRA President Zeid Goussous said.
The new restaurant skills training will be implemented in two phases, with the Abu Nseir VTC centre adopting the programme in the autumn of this year as part of phase 1.
During the next phase, the programme will be adopted in two more centres in Karak and Jerash.
"The rapid development of hospitality facilities both in Amman and throughout Jordan is creating thousands of new job opportunities, many of which are in restaurants," said Joseph Ruddy, component leader at USAID/Siyaha.
"It is projected that over the next four-year period (2007- 2011) the restaurant sector will require an additional 2,300 new employees annually, with at least 1,000 of these new employees absorbed by the fast food sector each year. Today's pioneering initiative is a positive step in the right direction of hospitality training development," he added.
© Jordan Times 2007
