EDUCATION IN HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT 2K22

REVIEW- RETRIEVE- REAFFIRM IN THE NEW NORMAL

The education sector in the field of hotel management, culinary arts and overall hospitality education has witnessed the effects of the pandemic and we all have had our own experiences and observations on effective learning and delivering online sessions along with the nuances of the changes around us in the last couple of years. The Covid- 19 phase has much taught us the importance of a lot of things and importance of values, being humble and being able to extend our little best support in all possible ways and means to enhance and develop aspirants to reach their aims and desired opportunities in order to walk on the path to success.

As well all firmly believe that hospitality management courses, subjects and technicalities need face to face interactions, offline mode exposure and a physical contact to an extent in order to understand the finer aspects of the studies involved under various subjects be it theory or practicals. Little to my surprise I came across hundreds of messages, connect requests on various social media platforms from students across the country from Kashmir to Goa and from West Bengal to Rajasthan loaded with queries, doubts and anxiety about what is going to happen in the days to come and how would the new normal be favourable for the student community to work on the path of self-development and revival stage.

The fact of the matter also remained that students did attend the online classes to a great extent which also had its own plus and minus points. While some found it easy to concentrate on the sessions due to not much distractions, many faced unexpected network issues and a few also thought that it was not very effective and impactful. The similar understanding was also shared by the teaching professionals and academia, long hours of screen time, back to back sessions online, managing home and classes side by side, not very comfortable for all subject teachers due to limited expression via online mode. But somehow we all faced it, we went through it and we tried our level best to adjust ourselves with the situation in the benefit of our students and their learning.

POST LOCK- DOWN PHASE: As things got better, life started coming back to normal and we all got a chance to come out of our homes slowly and steadily the excitement and the energy exchange process made way re-connecting back to training rooms, practical labs, seminar halls and sessions which saw benches getting full with students and lively expressions day after day. Though it was a great feel to speak out, share experiences, hear the students speak after a long time, a little observation also showed that the expressive ability of some students had gone for an inner phase direction which means they were not very comfortable opening up, speaking out their thoughts and views due to the online mode of delivery.

The Review Mode: subjects in hospitality courses dealing with the core operation departments like front office, housekeeping, food & beverage service, food production including cookery and bakery called for a thorough brush up on the basics in order to move up the ladder to advanced versions. From the basic sauces, to the types of service, the role of cleaning agents, the seventeen course french classical menu have been few of the classic examples where the students needed a little push and pull strategy approach in order to revise themselves to be open and ready to accept and understand the further upcoming chapters and modules. Kitchen and Bakery practical demos and live on campus sessions also saw a good number of student attendance since most of them have had a passion towards cooking, baking and trying out new foods and products which is quite normal for a hotel management student to since most students when they come for admissions have this thought process in mind that hotel management signifies chefs, celebrity chefs, food experts and more as a part of the growth and opportunity scenario which is exhibited on social media as well to an extent.

The Retrieve Mode: the opening up of the industry and academia both saw the need to bring back people, professionals, students, trainers, human resource teams to re-connect and bring back the much awaited and needed support to run operations and activities from coffee shops to restaurants, banquets to house-keeping, front desk associates to pastry and bakery teams to meet up the demand and supply curves in order to offer better value in service quality and to also polish the new comers into the culture of the organisation in order to prepare them towards perfection for becoming team leaders and managers in the near future. A lot of hospitality management institutions and training centers have retrieved old connects from pre-lock down phase and build back the association and bridged the gap between the industry expectations and enhanced quality delivery systems from the academic point of view. A lot of industry experts, departmental trainers, professionals also have been invited on campus at various educational set ups to come and speak to the students in the form of guest lectures, one to one interactive sessions, speak out your mind career guidance sessions, master class sessions by mixologists, culinary heads, technical support sessions from facing interviews to polish your personality workshops also have been happening. Another aspect of retrieving the connects has been a phase when colleges organise events and theme related assignments which are presented by final year students or as a yearly college fest which picked up pace after couple of years this year. The common platform as one for all and all for one is a good practice as it gets students to be motivated and when it comes from the industry it is always like cherry on the cake.

The Re-Affirm Mode: affirmations and positivity are a couple of words which help is stick onto our goals in life and somewhere the ray of hope deepens and gives us a better dimension towards where we need to head towards, especially when it comes to fresh graduating students after completing degree courses in hospitality management from reputed institutions and universities.

While almost every educational institute is trying their level best to be able to be of utmost help in terms of offering the best of the available job opportunities to their passing out batch students, there are some students who still sound a little unsure whether they would really be able to get something worthwhile and interesting to start up their careers. A simple piece of advice in the new normal reveals that to be successful we need to also start thinking that success starts with us and we will work hard towards achieving it. Nothing happens overnight, no managers and chefs have grown in a day, week month or so, it is a journey and it has to be enjoyed, it has to be teaching us a lot every single day and we need to have an open mind towards being receptive and to accept change as it comes our way. Resistance to change can lead to delay in a great opportune time and phase in life. Taking advice of seniors, mentors, guides, teachers, friends and family members is much required in a lot of new beginnings and we need to be more open towards asking questions and also answering them to our fullest capability when it comes to moulding the future of our country, our children, our students because what stays back on the mind is the imprint of someone who stood by us in our tough times, how we make people feel around us has a very strong impact on our lives as we grow by over the years, we all remember a few of our teachers, a few episodes of our college life, a few instances which make us laugh as we look back through the journey from when we started.

On a Concluding Note: Hospitality as an industry is a vast and huge sector and we all are a part of it under various verticals playing numerous roles over the years, we need to in some way or the other extend our cooperation, guidance, support system and motivate the younger generations towards staying more focussed and be able to develop themselves with a 360-degree approach of being a better person, a well-groomed candidate and a successful hotelier and or hospitality brand name in the days to come not only making our industry a much fulfilling, satisfying and a better place to be a part of but also in developing more jobs, careers and continued nation building activity as well.