FOR those who cannot secure a place on an appropriate course in the Republic of Ireland, there are a number of colleges in Northern Ireland and further afield offering distinguished courses in the hotel and catering field.
The Northern Ireland Hotel and Catering College (NIHCC) in Port rush has been educating chefs and hotel management students for almost 50 years and, in 1996, became an associate college of the University of Ulster enabling it to offer some degree and diploma courses franchised from the university. There are about 400 full- and 300 part-time students on the college's book at the moment.
In recent years," says Mary McSorley of NIHCC, "the college's range of full-time courses has expanded and now includes courses at all levels from practical chef training to a degree in hotel and tourism management. With practical courses requiring minimal academic results from school leavers and intermediate supervisory programmes for those with more average grades, we have something to suit all levels of academic ability. Work placement is an integral part of most NIHCC programmes and the college uses its international contacts to organise work placements abroad."
The Hospitality and Catering section of the North West Institute of Further and Higher Education (NWIFHE) offers a range of courses in the catering and management areas.
"Recently," says Maud Rainey of NWIFHE, "many of the institute's young chefs have been placed either first or second in national competitions and our reputation for providing the highest standard of food and service has led to us being selected to host several major functions.
"The institute has also recently pioneered an open distance learning project with Derry and District Licensed Vintners Association to introduce the NVQ Level 3 in On Licensed Premises Supervisory Management into the local licensed trade."
Maud Rainey also says that all training at NWIFHE is provided by qualified staff who live locally and are aware of the problems faced by both students and local establishments. NWIFHE offers a range of courses at various levels in food preparation and cooking, serving food and drink (table and counter) and in management aspects of the hospitality and catering industry.
Further afield, the IHTTI School of Hotel Management in the Swiss town of Neuchatel offers a hospitality management degree (equivalent to a British BA in hospitality management franchised by the University of Bournemouth) that is taken on a modular system.
"From its inception," writes Kevin Lemasney, director of IHTTI School of Hotel Management Neuchatel, in the school's prospectus, "we have had in mind the mature and intelligent student wishing to study in the country where tourism was born and to live in a multinational and multicultural environment."
Also in Switzerland, the Swiss Hotel Association Hotel Management School Les Roches offers a programme of studies in international hospitality management using. English as a teaching medium. Its diploma in hotel management, which is certified by the Swiss Hotel Association, is taken over six semesters (three years). With two additional semesters, students can go and study for a degree in international hospitality management.
