Mae Sot Hospitality and Catering School

		Sector : Vocational Training Location : Mae Sot, north-western Thailand Local Partner : Tak Border Child Assistance Foundation (TBCAF) Start of partnership : 2007

Context and Considerations :

The Karen belong to Thailand’s most marginalized ethnicities. They live in the country’s North Western region where they can only with great difficulty access most forms of education and basic services. Thus, many young Karen migrate to the cities. But there, because of their lack in training, most of them are unable to obtain stable jobs capable of sustaining their needs. Unfortunately, many are consequently exploited or enrolled into all sorts of traffic. 

Solution proposed :

In Thailand, tourism is a sector with immense employment opportunities. Prior studies have stressed the relevance of creating a training centre in Mae Sot which will prepare young Karen in accessing jobs in the hotel and catering business. Thus, such a project was launched in October 2008 after a partnership agreement had been signed with a local NGO, the Tak Border Child Assistance Foundation (TBCAF). This hotel school aims to accompany the young Karen in their professional development in order to facilitate their socio-economic integration. The three-year training concentrates on jobs in three areas: catering, kitchen and accommodation services and it offers a training which has been designed to match the labour market’s needs.
The project’s relevance has been confirmed by the interest which many local professionals have voiced, such as training centres, professional schools and companies. They want to contribute to the project’s implementation, either by advising the team on the appropriate training content, by recruiting trainers or by accepting students as interns in their companies. 

Impact and Results :

In January 2009, the construction of the training facilities started.  Simultaneously, a pedagogical engineering program is being conducted with French experts in order to develop a tailored curriculum suiting both the Karen students’ abilities as well as the labour market’s needs.
The first classes will start in May 2010, totalling 36 students. Ultimately, each year-course will train about 100 students.