Negros Oriental State University partner with biz industry group to bridge skills gap

By Roi Lomotan

NOHRRA president Royani Dy (2nd from left) and NORSU vIce president for administration and finance Dr. Noel Marjon Yasi (3rd from right) show the MOA they signed, which allows the deployment of NORSU interns to NOHRRA member-establishments.(RAL/PIA7 Negros Oriental)

DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental (PIA) — Students taking up hospitality management courses at the Negros Oriental State University (NORSU) can now look forward to an internship program with any of the 65 establishments under the Negros Oriental Hotel, Resort, and Restaurant Association (NOHRRA) Inc.

This after the state university partnered with NOHRRA to push for the advancement of the hospitality industry in the province. 

NORSU vice president for administration and finance, Dr. Noel Marjon Yasi, said this partnership will help bridge the knowledge and skills gap between the industry and the future workforce.

“This is a welcome partnership. Right now we are trying to build up and connect the link. What is the need of the industry and what competencies do they still need and we can do trainings,” said Yasi.

He said the collaboration between NORSU and NOHRRA will bring with it many advantages to both the students and the industry. 

“Partnering with NOHRRA has several advantages. Number one is the experiential learning opportunities. Even with our efforts to simulate what you have in your restaurants, in your hotels, there’s nothing that can replace actual experience,” he added.

He is also hopeful that this partnership will lead to job opportunities for their future graduates in local hotels, resorts, and restaurants. 

Meanwhile, NOHRRA president Royani Dy is optimistic that the partnership will help address the need for skilled personnel by the local hotel, resort, and restaurant owners. 

NORSU currently deploys around 300 interns for restaurants and 200 for hotels.

Students of NORSU hotel and restaurant management services will have a secured OJT deployment in any of the 65 member-establishments of the Negros Oriental Hotel, Resort, and Restaurant Associaton (NOHRRA) Inc. after NORSU and NOHRRA signed a memorandum of agreement for the internship program. (RAL/PIA7-Negros Oriental)

“We really need those numbers. Some hotels accept as much as 40 on-the-job trainees, while we have restaurants that accept around 80. So, it’s a win-win situation for us,” said Dy.

This collaboration will also grant member establishments of NOHRRA access to trainings in related fields or industries such as culinary arts, barista training, and restaurant and hotel servicing, among others, which will be facilitated by NORSU.

“It helps our members a lot in terms of training, which we are very thankful for, because the training for our members will be free,” Dy said.

The NOHRRA president believes this partnership will contribute to leveling the standards in the local hospitality industry and hospitality education in the province.

The agreement to deploy NORSU interns to NOHRRA member-establishments will start this year. 

Each student will have to render a maximum of 600 hours of internship in the establishment where they are accepted.

This agreement covers students from all campuses of NORSU in Dumaguete City, Bais City, Bayawan-Sta. Catalina, Pamplona, Siaton, Mabinay, and Guihulngan City. 

TeamSkills Tech Institute opens new extension campus in Dgte

By Roi Lomotan

Members of the local media take a tour of the facilities inside the extension campus of TeamSkills Technological Institute at Lower Batinguel, Dumaguete City during the opening of the said facility on Sept. 2, 022. . Photo shows reporters inside the mock restaurant at the campus. (RAL/PIA7 Negros Oriental)

DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental, Sept. 5 (PIA) — TeamSkills Technological Institute, one of the top technical-vocational (tech-voc) learning institutions here, has formally opened its extension campus at the basement of Turning Point Bldg. in Lower Batinguel.

Teamskills President Dr. Ariel Ronato led other officials of the institute, faculty, students and industry partners in the inauguration of their extension campus held last Sept. 2. Pastor Lucille Beatingo officiated the blessing and dedication of the learning facility.

The extension campus will host TeamSkills’ three-year diploma programs in tourism technology, hotel and restaurant technology, and culinary arts.

“The three diploma courses that we have right now is approved by TESDA. That curriculum is also patterned through CHED CMOs. These courses include the allowances. They (students) receive P14,400 per semester, P5,000 instructional allowance plus insurance, uniform, the PPE allowance, and other things,” Ronato said in a press conference following the blessing and dedication ceremony.

“We don’t charge anything even a single peso. Everything is free,” he added.

All the diploma courses are ladderized programs so students can pursue a bachelor’s degree in other schools if they still want to.

Ronato said TeamSkills is also set on crafting its own bachelor’s degree programs in the future so that students would not have to leave the institution if they want to graduate with a degree.

Currently, there are 200 students enrolled in the said programs.

Ronato hopes that the number of enrollees will increase in the opening of the next school year.

The TeamSkills extension campus has classrooms named after big hotels, a garden café where the barista counter is also located, a mock hotel room and restaurant where students enrolled in hotel and restaurant technology program can practice their skills in hotel and restaurant servicing, faculty room, clinic, guidance and student affairs room, and administration office.

Each classroom can accommodate 25 students.

Ronato said they are still adapting blended learning in the context of the pandemic.

The TeamSkills president gave his assurance that the tech-voc institute is adhering to health protocols to prevent COVID-19 transmission in schools.

Aside from this, they also implementing 50% physical reporting in their extension campus, where half of the school population will be attending in-person classes every Monday and Tuesday.

The other half will be physically reporting to school by Thursday and Friday.

Ronato said students are not required to be vaccinated but the institution is highly recommending all its students and faculty to take COVID-19 vaccines for their protection.

The inauguration of the new learning facility coincided with TeamSkills’s 10th founding anniversary which banners the theme “TeamSkills: Moving on Amidst Adversities.”