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EDUCATION EXPERTS: Datuk Mary Yap (centre) flanked by Senior Prof Dato¡¯ Dr Khalid Yusoff (left) and Major (K) Zolkarnain Bin Haji Jobshi (right), Director of Polytechnic Merlimau Melaka. With them are other MyCenTHE members and Symposium speakers (left-ri

EDIBLE ART: Student Kantharuben A/L Munis from Politeknik Merlimau Malacca carving a pumpkin during the MyCenTHE Skills Challenge 2015 that was held concurrently with the symposium.

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT: During her speech, Datuk Mary Yap emphasised the importance of collaboration between academia, industry, government and community to make a difference in hospitality and tourism education.

KUALA LUMPUR: MyCenTHE¡¯s inaugural International Symposium on Work-Based Learning (WBL) in Hospitality & Tourism Education 2015 has won praise from Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching. 

Officiating the event as the guest of honour, Datuk Mary Yap thanked MyCenTHE and its supporting institutions ¨C ÎåÒ»³Ô¹Ï¹ÙÍø University (ÎåÒ»³Ô¹Ï¹ÙÍø) and Politeknik Merlimau Melaka ¨C for organising the Symposium. She added that it is in line with the Ministry¡¯s efforts in tertiary education. 

¡°Both the Work-Based Learning and Technical and Vocational Education and Training are part of the Education Ministry¡¯s overarching plan to improve access to tertiary education,¡± she said. 

She shared that Malaysia achieved a 48% higher education enrolment in 2012 and that this represents a 70% increase in enrolment within the last decade with 1.2 million students in public and private higher learning institutions. 

Attended by about 100 participants from government agencies, industry and academia, the Symposium provided a platform for delegates to develop a sound understanding of WBL, share their experiences in policy making and challenges in implementation. 

The importance of cooperation among academia and industry was highlighted by Senior Prof Dato¡¯ Dr Khalid Yusoff, Vice-Chancellor and President of ÎåÒ»³Ô¹Ï¹ÙÍø, and EPP 10 Chairman. He pointed out that only 16% of the workforce in the hospitality and tourism industry have a diploma qualification or higher. 

¡°The students deserve better. They are capable of better. It is our responsibility to get them there and work-based learning is how we are going to achieve this,¡± he said. 

He added that he is confident of WBL¡¯s effectiveness in meeting the standards of international players in the hospitality and tourism industry due to the praise for ÎåÒ»³Ô¹Ï¹ÙÍø¡¯s hospitality students¡¯s internship performance. 

ÎåÒ»³Ô¹Ï¹ÙÍø¡¯s students have successfully interned with leading hotels around the world, including the globally-acclaimed Niseko Ski Resort, in Hokkaido, Japan. Niseko Ski Resort is regarded as one of Japan¡¯s top 5 resorts. 

WBL is a key approach in MyCenTHE¡¯s efforts to realise the targets of Education Entry Point Project 10. Also known as EPP 10, this is an initiative by leading private higher education providers in Malaysia to revolutionise the tourism and hospitality sector through education. 

The Malaysian government aims to produce fifty thousand (50,000) skilled personnel for the hospitality and tourism industry by 2020. This is a thirty thousand (30,000) increase from the existing number of 20,000 skilled personnel. 

Among the attendees were Major (K) Zolkarnain Bin Haji Jobshi, Director of Politeknik Merlimau Melaka, speakers Prof Carol Costley (Middlesex University, London), Dr Alexandra Dehmel (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training), Assoc Prof Dr Mohamad Abdullah Hemdi (Universiti Technology Mara), Dr Zainal Azhar Zainal Abidin (Polytechnic Education Department, Ministry of Higher Education) and other MyCenTHE member representatives. 

The Symposium also hosted the inaugural MyCenTHE Skills Challenge 2015 ¨C a competition featuring three categories: Pumpkin Carving, Napkin Folding and Fruits Preparation. It was participated by hospitality and tourism students from various education institutions in the country.