A boost to hotel management studies

A boost to hotel management studies
J.S. BABLU for THE HINDU

A new State Institute of Hospitality Management has started functioning in Kozhikode.

The State Institute of Hospitality Management, Kozhikode, established by the State government with funds from the Centre, began functioning at the Yathri Nivas in Kozhikode on August 4.

The new institute is an addition to the State’s other prestigious institutions in the field of tourism and hotel management such as the Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Kovalam, and the Kerala Institute of Tourism and Trave l Studies (KITTS), Thiruvananthapuram.

The Institute is temporarily functioning from Yathri Nivas, run by the Tourism Department, at West Hill, Kozhikode. The government had identified five acres of land, currently with the Kerala Soaps and Oils Limited, for setting up the institute. The institute is expected to be shifted to the new campus within three years.

Course

The institute offers B.Sc. hospitality and hotel administration course. This three-year regular programme is offered jointly by the National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology (NCHMCT) and the Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi.

NCHMCT, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, conducts a national-level Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for admission to hospitality and hotel administration courses and other courses in 21 Central institutes, five State institutes and a few private institutes. The institute at Kozhikode, like the one at Kovalam, bases its admissions on the JEE rank list.

Entrance test

The minimum qualification for appearing for JEE is a pass in Plus Two or equivalent with English as one of the compulsory subjects. Those appearing in the final examination are also eligible to appear in JEE 2008. They will be considered on provisional basis. (For more details, visit www.nchmct.org).

The upper age limit for candidates belonging to the general and differently-abled categories is 22 years. In the case of candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes categories, the upper age limit is 25 years.

The three-hour test will have questions covering numerical ability and scientific aptitude (30 questions), reasoning and logical deduction (30 questions), general knowledge and current affairs (30 questions), English language (80 questions) and aptitude for service sector (30 questions). For each right answer the candidate will get one mark. Wrong answers will invite negative marking, half mark for every wrong answer. There will not be any negative marking for aptitude for service sector section. The test for the academic year 2008-09 was held on May 10, 2008 and admissions are almost over in majority of institutes across the country.

The B.Sc. programme equips students with the skills, knowledge and attitude required to efficiently discharge supervisory responsibilities in the hospitality sector. It provides in-depth laboratory work for students to acquire required knowledge and skill standards in the operational areas of food production, food and beverage service, front office operation and house keeping and provides managerial inputs in hotel accountancy, food safety and quality, human resource management, facility planning, financial management, strategic management, tourism marketing and tourism management.

The institute at Kozhikode has 60 seats for its B.Sc. programme. Already 48 students have joined, only four or five of them are from Kerala. “Good communication skills in English is very important to get an admission and also to excel in the course and afterwards,” says Krishnan Namboothiri, principal of the institute.

Placement

According to reports, majority of the students passing out of these institutes under NCHMCT across the country get placement in the hospitality and other service sectors. “Many of the students who have learned this course are working in prominent star hotels run by the Taj and Oberoi groups,” Mr. Namboodiri says.