Four hundred and fifty Jamaican culinary educators from secondary and tertiary institutions have been awarded scholarships for skills training totalling $20 million.

Fifty of them have been at Hocking College, USA, since June 2017 and will return to the island later this month. An additional 50 will depart for Liaison College in Ontario, Canada on August 6, 2017, while the remaining 350 will be trained locally by visiting professors from Hocking College at HEART Trust/NTA institutions and will end on July 28.

The scholarships, sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, form part of the ‘Upskilling and Retooling Jamaica’ project which is being implemented in concert with HEART Trust/NTA and the Joint Committee for Tertiary Education.

Education minister Ruel Reid launched the project last year to expand access to skills training in communities. He has reported that some 7,000 people have benefited to date.

“The hospitality industry is dynamic and as such, it is critically important that educators and practitioners in the field be constantly ‘upskilled’, to stay apace with global demand and trends. This train-the-trainer exercise was born out of that understanding and is poised to assist in building a wider cadre of highly skilled, globally aware and certified professionals in the hotel and tourism industries,” said Chairman of the Joint Committee on Tertiary Education (JCTE) Dr Cecil Cornwall.

He emphasised that certification is critical to the push for national growth and development, citing the drive by Minister Reid to have at least 80 per cent of Jamaicans attain advanced level certification, such as a college degree, by age 30.

Students in both local and international programmes will receive certificates of participation through the HEART Trust/NTA and the JCTE, along with various levels of unit competencies and certification from the hosting colleges.

Training areas include advanced meat and vegetable cuts, fabrication, classical stock and sausage making, meal preparation and presentation to international standards, vegetable and food carving, wine tasting, vineyard tours, food and wine pairing, gastronomy delight, tour guiding, heavy-duty vehicle maintenance, and wellness promotion.