PROJECT LAUNCH
2009
My greatest dream is to have a small restaurant and an amazing family, as I do now! In fact, I have almost fulfilled my dream!”
KASEMRI, 26 ans
Catering and accommodation director and training instructor at the hospitality school in Mae Sot, Thailand. Student from the school’s very first year in 2010.
THAILAND: The Hospitality-Catering Training Centre in Mae Sot
In Northwest Thailand, on the border with Myanmar, the town of Mae Sot is home to a large Karen minority which is one of the most vulnerable populations in Thailand. In 2009, the IECD and its local partner, the Tak Border Child Assistance Foundation, opened the HCTC (Hospitality-Catering Training Center) in order to help underprivileged young people by offering them a chance to access promising jobs in the hospitality-catering sector.
Every year, the center offers about 30 young people the opportunity to learn all associated trades, from cooking to accommodation and reception to waiting, over a two-year period. Each student completes two internships and practices every week at ″The Passport″ application unit. The students all board and receive solid basic training in life skills, a guarantee of success for their adult life and professional integration. 2016 also saw the signature of a framework agreement with the Mae Sot Technical High School: now, new year groups will follow several general classes at this establishment. The entire course will be validated by a State diploma.
INNOVATIVE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
Two new educational spaces were created in 2016:
1. An educational garden
It has a dual role of supplying the hotel-restaurant with fruit, vegetables, herbs and even flowers for decorating the dining rooms and of providing an educational space where students can develop their skills and knowledge in growing fruit and vegetables and flowers.
2. A resource center
Comprising a library and a multimedia laboratory, it offers access to reading and culture for all, interactive training and provides students with a space where they can work and relax.
2020 results:
- 60 young people attended training in catering and hospitality and benefitted from professional orientation and integration supports, 47% of whom were girls.
- 75% of graduates found a job one year following their graduation.
The HCTC school in Mae Sot (Thaïlande) help young underprivileged people rise out of poverty – © 2020
The Hospitality-Catering Training Center of Mae Sot into images – © 2017
Hospitality-Catering Training Center (HCTC) – © 2015
The Hospitality-Catering Training Center of Mae Sot – © 2013
