Workforce Development Authority (WDA) has opened a school for hospitality and tourism in Remera, Gasabo District.Speaking to The New Times, WDA Director General, Jerome Gasana, said the school will be offering courses which include catering, front office operations, housekeeping, customer care, cookery, food and beverages and travel and tour. “The main objective of opening this school is to promote the hospitality and tourism sector in the country by bridging the skills gap,” Gasana said.He said for the first batch, they target 100 students already employed by service providers.”Gasana said the school will first put emphasis on equipping trainers from hospitality and tourism schools from around the country with skills that they can pass on to their students.He noted that the school will be run by WDA, in collaboration with a renowned Swiss hospitality and tourism school, Les Roches International School of Hotel Management.Government, through WDA, has so far invested over Rwf100 million on equipment alone for the schools. “I encourage the general population, especially the private sector, to play a key role in increasing the number of hospitality and tourism schools in the country because there is a rapid growth of the sector.”He said the school will be temporarily be located in Remera for about two years but WDA and Le Roches International will construct a permanent hotel and tourism school in Kicukiro.Alex Bayingana, the proprietor of Alpha Palace Hotel, welcomed the school.“Currently over 80 per cent of hotel proprietors and employees don’t have the requisite skills and knowledge about hotel management, especially customer care. I believe this school will boost the hospitality and tourism sector and attract more investors,” Bayingana said.According to Bayingana, due to lack of qualified people in the hotel management and hospitality sector, the majority of hotel proprietors have resorted to employing only staff with experience.Agness Muhongerwa, an employee of Impala hotel in Kigali, said the school will equip staff in the tourism sector with more skills and knowledge which, she said, would enable them to be paid a high salary compared to what they are earning now.
