Here in Pakistan, best academic choices are available in the fields of hospitality and tourism for matric & inter students.
Matric and intermediate years in the life of a student is considered to be a time when nothing much is at stake but the whole career of the student. Future course of action in the academic and professional life of the students is first of all decided at the matric level and then further specified at the intermediate level. As it is commonly believed and perceived here in Pakistan that the students after passing the tenth standard can study only science, arts or computer subjects, all the admission-seeking students in the country opt from these three options making it almost impossible for all the government and private institutions to accommodate them in the practical field.
To accommodate such a big number of students, the element of practical training goes missing in the schools and colleges and most of the students by the time of their university admissions know nothing but theoretical knowledge. Students with such background when enter the university life for a four-year program are almost directionless and much of their time is spent in cramming the ideas instead of materializing them. The situation further worsens when a huge outflow of university graduates knocks the doors of the government and private organizations.
Some of them are accommodated while many of them are miserably overlooked. And that’s quite disheartening on the part of parents and guardians who put almost everything on stake for the uninterrupted studies of their children. This cruel process from the wrong selection of subjects to the unavailability of professional opportunities for the university graduates causes depression among the youth and unemployment in the country. That is the reason that we see university graduates applying for fourth grade jobs in the government and private organizations.
If we look at the European and American model of education, we find that the students in these countries start doing jobs and startups right after their high school and continue their studies along with. Students are all into skills and practical work even during their school education hence getting jobs quite easily.
Now, the point is that how can we steer Pakistani youth out of the claws of stress and unemployment spread in every nook and corner of the country due to a saturated education system. Answer is not that difficult! All we need to know is to know more about the academic choices available for the matric and intermediate students that can make them skillful enough to get some suitable place in the market during their college and university studies.
Here in Pakistan, best academic choices are available in the fields of hospitality and tourism for matric and intermediate students. Many government and private institutes are offering exciting yet future-oriented career pathways in the fields of hospitality and tourism. According to the latest studies, hospitality and tourism are among those global fields which are booming on the international horizon and have a flourishing future too. Almost every country in the world is focusing on these fields not only to attract the outer world but also to generate easy revenue.
In Pakistan, College of Tourism & Hotel Management (COTHM) Pakistan & Dubai is the pioneer hospitality & tourism college offering market-oriented options for matric and intermediate students and that also approved and accredited by all the relevant academic boards of the country. For matric students, there are five and for intermediate students, there are two options which they can opt to pursue a wonderful career in the fields of hospitality and tourism.
(Details of the matric & intermediate programs)
International Career Advisor Leena Imtiaz has something important to tell the students about opting the fields of hospitality and tourism after doing matric and intermediate in Pakistan.
“As hospitality and tourism is an industry that benefits almost every sector of the economy of a nation and in these unprecedented times, there is a big gap in the market when it comes to our tourism and hospitality sector. This industry is vital in funding the infrastructure developments for local communities. Now, more than ever, there is an urgent need to fill this gap and move onwards and upwards. In Pakistan, there aren’t many institutions that offer different alternatives to accommodate the growing need of the industry by providing readymade professionals. However, I have heard of a few specifically including College of Tourism & Hotel Management (COTHM) that have understood the requirement at the right time and are offering matric, intermediate and associate degree programs in Hospitality and Tourism operations, culinary arts, baking & patisserie, food safety and airline & ticketing operations. Such programs are bound to change the future sooner rather than later. The pace however must be increased if we are to come up to the international standards as I am seeing a constant increase in the demand for such professionals that can be an added value to all in the economical aspect of the local and the national market.”
