QUALIFIED FOR SUCCESS
T

he IFT Tourism and Hotel School trains people and develops their talents so they are ready to work in tourism, in hospitality and elsewhere in the service sector. For over 20 years we have been offering courses leading to internationally recognised qualifications, which reflect the requirements of the market.

Each year nearly 20,000 people take vocational training programmes and undergo occupational assessments at the IFT Tourism and Hotel School. Courses at the foundation, intermediate and advanced levels are available.

Some of the programmes are offered in partnership with institutions abroad, and lead to certificates or diplomas recognised by the tourism and hospitality industries around the world. Our many partners include the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute, the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Le Cordon Bleu and the Wine and Spirit Education Trust. In academic year 2015/16 IFT became an authorised testing centre for Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification programmes.

The IFT Tourism and Hotel School puts on 2 high school courses in collaboration with the Macao Education and Youth Affairs Bureau: the Tourism Techniques Course and the Graphic Design Course. The 3-year courses comprise academic and occupational learning, and are supplemented by opportunities to do internships. The IFT Tourism and Hotel School also offers high school pupils language courses and courses that teach them about the hospitality, food and beverage, and events businesses.

The IFT Community Education and Development Programme gives all residents of Macao access, free of charge, to a wide range of basic training courses on aspects of service industries. The courses are offered in cooperation with community associations and partners in the relevant industries.

Each academic year the IFT Tourism and Hotel School holds various special seminars and workshops on the food and beverage business and on cultural tourism. The School puts on many of the events jointly with partners abroad, so broadening the horizons of those attending.

LIFELONG LEARNING EMPHASIS

Promoting lifelong learning is at the core of the mission of the IFT Tourism and Hotel School. To further holistic education, we offer various training programmes to residents of Macao.

In 2008 the IFT Tourism and Hotel School joined the Continuing Education Subsidy Scheme instituted by the Macao Education and Youth Affairs Bureau to promote lifelong learning. The scheme was replaced by the Continuing Education Development Plan in 2011. By August 2016 IFT had applied to have about 1,100 courses subsidised by these initiatives, and about 12,000 people had benefited from subsidised courses.

OUR PROFESSIONAL TRAINING STAFF

The highly qualified coordinators of IFT Tourism and Hotel School courses are committed to helping all the people we teach succeed in their development and careers.

WE OFFER VOCATIONAL COURSES IN:

– Hospitality and catering

– Heritage and tourism

– Health, spa and beauty

– Creative studies and IT

– Language and culture

– Retail, events and business

– Personal development


17,715

NUMBER OF VOCATIONAL TRAINEES IN ACADEMIC YEAR 2015/16


20

INTERNATIONAL QUALIFICATION PARTNERS


1,678

NUMBER OF OCCUPATIONAL ASSESSMENT CANDIDATES IN 2015/16

A TEST OF SKILL

The Macao Occupational Skills Recognition System (MORS) is an important long-term endeavour by the IFT Tourism and Hotel School. The system is the result of a joint effort by the Macao tourism industry and IFT to establish a scheme for training people to undertake certain jobs and for certifying workers as being sufficiently qualified.

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A GIFT FOR CREATIVITY

The IFT Tourism and Hotel School has been broadening the range of courses it offers in creative fields as part of the Institute’s mission to help diversify the economy of Macao.

EDUCATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS

To better serve its purpose of providing high-quality vocational training, the IFT Tourism and Hotel School regularly cooperates with public and private bodies in designing tailor-made educational programmes. The School also plays an important part in increasing the cooperation between Macao and neighbouring Guangdong in the field of tourism education.

IFT and the Zhuhai No.1 Vocational School in the Province of Guangdong have been collaborating since 2009 on instituting the Macao Occupational Skills Recognition System (MORS) at the school. Over 1,900 students there have benefitted from MORS training.

The Zhuhai No.1 Vocational School has used MORS to certify skills in 8 types of job. The goal of an agreement revised in 2015 is to make training and certification in all 17 occupations covered by MORS available at the Zhuhai school.

IFT and the Ling Dong Vocational and Technical School, in the Nansha district of Guangzhou, are collaborating on instituting MORS there, too. In the 2015/16 academic year IFT helped the Ling Dong Vocational and Technical School make its first assessments in the skill of bartending.

IFT instructors and students took part in the first cross-Strait vocational skills festival, held during the 2015/16 academic year. The Guangzhou Vocational School of Tourism and Business organised the festival.

The IFT Tourism and Hotel School started in academic year 2015/16 a series of 3 Portuguese-language courses for workers in hospitality and tourism. The aim of the programmes is to support the development of Macao as a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure, and as a commercial and trade cooperation service platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries.

The courses are offered jointly by the IFT Tourism and Hotel School and the Instituto Português do Oriente (IPOR), a not-for-profit institution that promotes Portuguese culture and language in Macao.

Students that complete all 3 courses will earn an IPOR certificate of their basic ability to communicate in Portuguese.

In cooperation with the Macao Cultural Affairs Bureau, the IFT Tourism and Hotel School has offered a programme in arts administration since 2011. In academic year 2015/16, the Institute and the Bureau started a similar programme in performing arts management.

The new programme is meant to help develop Macao’s cultural and creative industries by improving the skills of managers in the performing arts. The first intake of students taking the Certificate Programme in Performing Arts Event Management were taught by lecturers from Macao, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The 189-hour course consists of theoretical and practical study. The classes cover a range of subjects, including performing arts theory, marketing, production management, and lighting and sound design.

The IFT Tourism and Hotel School is training front-line police officers in soft skills as part of an arrangement with the Academy for Public Security Forces. Macao police are instructed in etiquette and communication skills, including speaking foreign languages and conveying information about Macao’s heritage.

The training is designed to help officers interact with visitors and so contribute to making Macao a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure. The arrangement will ultimately help improve the service rendered by officers on the beat.

The partnership between IFT and the Academy of Public Security Forces will last for 5 years and its target is to train about 1,000 officers. Every year, 8 courses are taught, each for 25 officers. The first course began in 2015.

Several tourism and hospitality enterprises engage IFT to train their staff in-house. One such enterprise is integrated resort developer Melco Crown Entertainment, which joined forces with the IFT Tourism and Hotel School to give its employees the opportunity to take a diploma programme in hospitality management.

The programme was specially designed for the employees of Melco Crown Entertainment. It is taught by IFT instructors, using the facilities of the Melco Crown Entertainment Learning Academy.

The programme began in June 2016, with 32 employees enrolled. Those taking the programme attend evening classes twice a week. They receive their diplomas after competing 207 hours of classes spread over one year.

The programme also gives employees the chance to earn certificates awarded by the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute.