The Sunday Mail
WITH as little damage to the thick forests that house a variety of the Zambezi Escarpment’s wildlife, the road from Makuti to Kariba is set to be upgraded with minor works having already begun.
A radio station opened in Kariba last year has just turned one, and according to the District Administrator, Witness Kufa, investments in tourism infrastructure in the resort town is on the rise.
Now, the town’s first hotel school is set to open next month.
Chas Hotel School recently got its authorisation from the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education Science and Technology, and is ready to open its doors to a townsfolk that has for long been deprived of such opportunities.
The hotel school will operate from Cutty Sark Hotel, thereby providing the much-needed practical aspects on the same premises.
Enrolment of students began early this month for its 2018 intake, which will see students doing the National Foundation Certificate (NFC) courses under Higher Education Examination Council.
Batsirai Gurajena, the College Administrator, said enrolment was in progress and as expected there was a large number of applicants.
“For now all applications are being done in person at either Cutty Sark Hotel at the college’s administration office here in Kariba or at our Harare office at number 7 Shortheath Road, Chisipite, Harare.
“Because we have relaxed the requirements, which allows for people who can just prove that they have secondary education and not necessarily the mandatory five O-Levels, the number of interested students has shot up,” said Gurajena.
Covering such courses as NFC in Food and Beverage Service, Food Preparation, Bakery Studies, House Keeping, ICT Fundamentals, Computer Operations and Packages and Computer Programming, the qualification equips students with fundamental hospitality and tourism skills.
Gurajena said the students that will pass through their college will have an edge over their colleagues trained elsewhere.
“Besides that the college itself is located at one of the best hotels in Kariba, Cutty Sark, thereby affording the students a rare opportunity of a hands-on approach to their education — Kariba itself is all about hospitality. So even in terms of job prospects for our graduates, it is easier for them to get employment,” said Gurajena.
The National Foundation Certificate takes just 12 months to complete and if the school’s doors open as promised this February, in January 2019 Kariba will have its first graduates from the town’s first hotel school.
