Culinary schools see increased attendance

Culinary schools in Bangladesh are seeing increased attendance in their courses both by people looking to hone their cooking skills and those considering new careers.

The schools are attracting a mix of students with a wide range of ages and experiences. Some of the students are taking the courses out of the hobby.

Sayem Chowdhury, the lone child of his parents, was suffering from depression when he remained unemployed for two years and a half after completing his master’s from a private university in 2015.

All of a sudden, he saw an advertisement inviting students to a culinary course.

Completing the one-year diploma course, Sayam now works as an assistant chef at a renowned restaurant.

Farhan Evan completed a chef course from Tony Khan Culinary Institute and Hotel management in 2016 and joined a hotel in Dhaka as an apprentice chef in 2017. Now he works as a demi chef at Four Points by Sheraton, Dhaka.

He said culinary was his passion from his young age and took admission to a culinary school after passing higher secondary.

Farhan said he had turned down an offer to a chef abroad as his classes of his master’s course are on.

“A culinary degree is highly valued abroad,” he said.

Rupak Kanti Biswas, Curriculum Specialist (Diploma) at the Bangladesh Technical Education Board, said there were nearly 350 training institutions registered under them across the country who offer culinary courses and 17 of those were in Dhaka.

The said courses vary from two-year and one-year diploma courses to six-month and three-month short courses. The courses feature food and beverage, bakery and pastry, hotel management and housekeeping.

Course fees depend on the institutes but it normally starts from Tk 18,000 and goes up to Tk 1,20,000.

Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation runs the National Hotel and Tourism Training Institute which offers a host of courses ranging from professional diplomas to short courses. More than 1,200 students pass out from the institute every year.

Jahida Begum, head of the culinary training department at the institute, said that the chef course was the most popular among courses they offer.

Unlike most culinary institutions, the NHTTI even offers a chef course for teens. There are also some special courses for dessert making, ice-cream making, jam-jelly making which are popular among housewives. There is also a hygiene course and a non-alcoholic beverage course.

Course fees at the institute start from Tk 3,000 and go up to Tk 1,50,000.

“We have a mix of students with a wide range of ages and experience. There are employed, unemployed

educated, and students among them. Anyone interested can enrol,” said Jahida.

Many of them come to attend the course to become entrepreneurs and they are contributing a lot to our economy, she added.

Jahida said certificates of the institution were well valued at home and abroad and migrants with the institute’s certificate earn a handsome amount.

Kanij Morshed, manager of Tommy Miah’s Hospitality Management Institute, said they offer many courses and the chef course was one of them.

Chef course became popular in the past four to five years and many people after completing BBA and MBA are attending it, she said.

“This is a really positive sign. Every year, the number of students in chef courses is increasing by 20 to 25 per cent,” she said.

Tommy Miah’s Hospitality Management Institute has five branches across Bangladesh and every year more than 200 students complete chef courses and 50 per cent of them are working in various hotels, restaurants and resorts, 30 per cent become entrepreneurs of restaurants or online catering services, and 20 per cent go abroad they are doing very well there, she said.

“There is a huge demand of qualified chefs at home and abroad, particularly in the UK, Australia, Canada and Middle Eastern countries,” added Kanij.

Anis Uddin Ahmed, the Course Coordinator at the Bangladesh Hotel Management and Training Institute, said that culinary services are now considered an interesting job not only in foreign countries but also in Bangladesh as cooking is no longer considered an odd job.

“Now there are too many culinary schools in Bangladesh. Those who want to enrol in the courses must verify the institutes as all do not deliver proper guidelines or education,” said Anis Uddin.

For the past few years, many people with higher degrees are attending chef courses and going abroad after completing the course. There they earn a handsome salary, he added.

Despite the increased popularity of the courses, the culinary schools still lack laboratory facilities and skilled trainers, according to the business insiders.

There are many restaurants in Bangladesh and they have demands for qualified cooks but they do not get as per their expectations, they added.

Bangladesh is a country with a lot of potential in the field of tourism; so hotels and resorts are hotbeds of culinary opportunity. The scope of culinary jobs ranges from line cook in a fine dining restaurant to banquet food preparation.

Bangladesh Chefs Association’s executive Ashisul Turjo said there were more than 4 lakh chefs across the country and among them 2.5 lakh are in Dhaka.

“Around 40 per cent of the chefs are female. They are employed in various hotels and restaurants and they are very successful in this field,” said Ashisul.

Attending a chef course is the easiest way to enter culinary jobs and those who came to the profession after attending the course are doing very well, he said.