For the longest time, hospitality education has been gate-kept by elite, English-speaking private institutes. St. Xavier’s College and Chowman are looking to change this. The Jesuit institution and the popular Chinese food chain are joining hands to launch a Certificate Course on Hospitality Management. My Kolkata was there at the college’s Park Street campus for the official briefing.
The six-month course will be launched at St. Xavier’s College’s Raghabpur Campus, with the aim to make an education in hospitality more accessible to people from low-income backgrounds.
“The curriculum has been designed to provide a blend of theoretical learning and practical experiences. A successful career in hospitality doesn’t come just from studying in a classroom, but from applying your learnings in the real world,” said Rev. Dr. Dominic Savio, SJ, principal of St. Xavier’s College.
‘If this course is successful, we hope to launch it in the Park Street campus too,’ said Rev. Dr. Dominic Savio
Debaditya Chaudhury, managing director of Chowman and co-owner of Oudh 1590 and Chapter 2, expressed his enthusiasm at how the course would help underprivileged students find a footing in the industry. Speaking about how he conceptualised the course on a visit to the Raghabpur campus, Chaudhury said, “Students from non-urban spaces are often under-confident about their skills — because they don’t come from English-speaking private schools. Irrespective of language or financial condition, everyone has the right to dream. When I discussed my desire to start an accessible hospitality course with Father Dominic Savio, he encouraged me to formulate it for the Raghabpur campus. As an alumnus of St. Xavier’s, it was a great opportunity.”
The result was an extensive six-month certification course, which will be open to people from all backgrounds. The course will have three months of theoretical learning and three months of practicals. During the course, students will receive internships in Chowman’s various restaurants, where they will be trained in both kitchen and service skills, in keeping with the industry’s highest standards. “Having restaurants around the country, including Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi, we are committed to providing the best pan-India learnings to these students, and open to taking them to different cities too,” added Chaudhury. Upon completion, students will also have the opportunity to be absorbed within the restaurant chain, with the choice of delving deeper into the kitchen, or service sections.
‘We at Chowman have dreams of expanding rapidly. The only challenge we face is finding quality talent, which we hope this course will remedy,’ said Debaditya Chaudhury
The first session of the course will begin on November 13, admitting 40 students, with an option to extend it to 60 in case of high demand. In order to keep the course accessible to students from financially challenged backgrounds, the fee for the entire six-month course is Rs 5,000. St. Xavier’s College is also willing to provide concessions in case any student can’t afford to pay. “No student who wants to study should have to miss out because of money,” said Savio. In keeping with the focus on accessibility, the course is open to any individual who has passed Class XII, along with graduates from any stream.
Rev. Fr. Johnson Padiyara, the vice principal of the Raghabpur campus, also expressed his thoughts at the commencement of this partnership, stating, “So many young students wish to enter the hospitality field, but cannot due to lack of training. This merger will open their careers to infinite possibilities.”
Sudesh Poddar, the president of the Hotel & Restaurant Association of Eastern India and the joint secretary of the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), emphasised on the need for such courses — that would make aspiring hospitality students more employable. “Hospitality is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world, and it will generate huge employment. In order to meet this growing scale, we need quality employees, a requirement that I am sure this course will fulfil,” he said, while adding that FHRAI would fund the education of 20 deserving students each year.
Interested candidates can apply for the course here.