Industry body CII and ITC Hotels has joined hands with EHL (Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne) Group to offer a Swiss professional diploma in hospitality for candidates who have passed 12th standard in school.

The 18-month Vocational Education &Training (VET) professional diploma program by EHL Education Group of Switzerland will be delivered at four ITC Hotels across the country. The total fee for the program is ₹300,000 (plus taxes).

A total of 200 students will be enrolled in the first batch across four luxury properties, including ITC Maurya (New Delhi), ITC Sonar and ITC Royal Bengal (Kolkata), ITC Maratha (Mumbai) and ITC Grand Chola (Chennai). CII has assured 100 per cent placement to students upon successful completion of the program recognised by all major hospitality chains worldwide, said a press statement.

“At CII, we intend to address the need of the Indian hospitality industry for skilled, globally benchmarked talent. Hence this partnership with the 127-year-old EHL Group, which is ranked as the No. 1 hospitality and leisure management school in the world,” Sougata Roy Choudhury, Executive Director, CII, said in the statement.

Demand-supply gap

The current demand-supply gap of trained workforce in the Indian hospitality sector is at a shortfall of about 80 per cent. Hospitality employers find the workforce being supplied below the industry's high expectations. Hence, India has a definite need for globally recognised vocational training that can create a pool of talented hospitality professionals. The VET by EHL program will bridge the skills gap and strengthen India's global hospitality workforce supplier of choice.

“This is a unique training model in partnership with the industry, delivered at industry premises and facilitated by industry experts, to prepare the youth for quality employment within the industry. Nothing like this exists in India,” he added.

According to Nilesh Mitra, Vice President, Talent Management, ITC Hotels, the programme will enable the company to strengthen its talent pipeline to expand its presence in the country. It plans to add more hotels to this programme in 2022.

“The VET by EHL program is based on principles of the world-renowned Swiss Competency Framework. It has been developed over a two-year period by EHL subject matter experts and faculty members, with global industry feedback. The objective is to prepare the youth for frontline job roles in hospitality at global standards. Students of the program in India will be at a significant advantage with future employers, in global mobility and in career progression,” Aman Aditya Sachdev, Director & Regional Head at EHL Advisory Services for South Asia, Middle East & Myanmar said.

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