CARNEGIE School of Home Economics commenced a three-day retreat on Monday as its employees seek to forge ahead with respect to the local culinary arts and the promotion of tourism.In his address to the gathering at the opening session, Chairman of the Board, Mr. John Seeram said there is a need for the institution to look at where it has been, where it is today and focus on where it wants to be in the future.
There must also be a focus on the resources that the institution has at its disposal and examine the necessity to increase and upgrade same where necessary, making reference to the human, physical, material and financial kinds.
The issue of training and relevant exposure was also ventilated by Seeram, who suggested that students must be exposed to practical and other outside engagements which are actually connected to their work at the facility and will serve as a benefit in the long run.
He warned that, should there not be adequate resources and proper training for those involved in the operation and delivery of service at the institution, they could very well be left behind with respect to where the Caribbean and the rest of the world is going in the area of culinary arts.
Chief Education Officer, Mr. Olato Sam, who also spoke at the forum, pointed out that the retreat was very important in allowing the directors and staff of the school to improve on the quality of service and even as the Ministry of Education strives to ensure a quality that produces a superb blend of academics and technical skills.
He remarked that, in the past Guyana did a poor job with respect to marketing this country as a culinary tourism destination.
Main answers
Sam posited that one of the main answers to addressing poverty, unemployment and other disadvantages is the availability of technical skills.
He said it must be recognised as one of the tools of re-engaging young people in education, that is what technical vocation is about.
Sam said that, in totality, technical vocation could be the tool which also advances gender equality, especially in the workplace and, based on how the world is going today, it is an injustice to speak about education and technical vocation without linking them to the real world and their importance.
Guyana is at a stage where it requires persons who will advance the agendas that promote technical vocation and skills within organisations and institution, he told the assemblage of teachers and other persons.
Speaking to the audience, too, was Carnegie Principal Penelope Harris, who said that, based on the retreats held by the school over the years it was able to revise several of the institution’s operational strategies.
She said the school has been developing its skills in an effort to more effectively deliver certification to persons who come to the institution seeking to have theirs enhanced.
According to Ms. Harris, the staff development for 2014 comes in the form of transitioning the institution to better provide hospitality training, while there is also the need for the staff to be prepared to deliver quality education and training in the hospitality sector.
She said that Carnegie wants to be able to observe best practices like the other countries in the region and that means that there will be the need for the stepping outside of its ambits to see what is happening in those countries and their culinary businesses.
She admitted that, at the moment, several similar institutions in the Caribbean are ahead of what is being done by Carnegie and, for 2014, the institution will be working to get on par with those sister institutions.
There is also the need for staff skills development and all avenues will be explored to make this possible the principal said, disclosing that instructors from some of the well and better off institutions within the Caribbean will be sought to provide the support needed.
The retreat will come to an end today.