Instructor Kurma as the coordinator for hospitality courses in the School of Continuing Education (SCE), has 20 years of experience in teaching tourism-related subjects like Front Desk, Customer Services, Concierge, Supervisory Skills, Rooms Management, etc. Being an approved ‘Macao Occupational Skills Recognition System’, known as MORS, trainer in areas of front desk agent, customer relations, officer & concierge and bell attendant, he proactively brings in benchmarks along with his rich experience across a spectrum of segments to the Mainland.
IFTM has been constantly cooperating with educational institutions in the Mainland, initially establishing cooperation with Zhuhai First Vocational School which is geographically next-door neighbour of Macao. IFTM first introduced the MORS to Zhuhai First Vocational School. It is the joint efforts of IFTM and the Macao tourism industry to establish such a training scheme leading to certification of certain positions in the hotel and tourism industries. There are currently 17 occupations covered by the scheme for which Zhuhai First Vocational School has added the MORS to its hospitality curriculum.
Instructor Kurma expressed his gratitude towards being invited as one of the advisors to provide training with MORS and guide Zhuhai First Vocational School throughout the preparation of the national competition. Meanwhile, he and other teachers worked together to design a MORS-based training for the students in order to meet the requirements and specifications of the competition. As the ‘2022 National Competition for Skills of Vocational Education’ is open up for participation by high school students whilst they normally lack social skills and fail to achieve practical experiences, Instructor Kurma and other teachers use instructional simulations to show students a model of behaviour so as to gain a better understanding of the case. For which IFTM has been actively introducing and promoting the MORS in the Greater Bay Area, giving full play to the advantages of professional technical education and training, encouraging related exchange programmes and cooperation for tourism and hospitality. Zhuhai First Vocational School has then organised on-site visits for students to Hyatt Regency Hengqin, thus to enhance their hands-on skills and familiarise themselves with the operating environment in hotels.
‘With “2022 National Competition for Skills of Vocational Education”, we seized the opportunity to take a closer step to the “WorldSkills International”, hoping students can showcase their potential at a much larger stage and to expand their horizons.’ Instructor Kurma stated. This time, Zhuhai First Vocational School has achieved the honourable First Prize which mainly resulted from the huge efforts of the students as well as the advisors all the way from preparation to the day of competition. Instructor Kurma believed that IFTM has made great efforts in bringing standardised work performance requirements (MORS) for certain occupations in the entire industry. This will ensure a consistent delivery of quality service standards which is always the main objective of both IFTM and the industry.
Through the National Competition for Skills of Vocational Education, we want to stress the importance of proficiency in specific fields. Proficiency-based learning not only can provide equitable, relevant, and rigorous learning opportunities that engage students and foster the skills, knowledge, and habits of work necessary to be successful, but also can prepare students for career readiness. It is essential to take a two-pronged approach, on the one hand to continue to develop instruments in higher education institutions and on the other hand to gradually increase the relevance and expansion in career-oriented programmes, which can enrich students’ learning experiences and develop deep knowledge of content at the same time.
To conclude, Instructor Kurma appreciated all the students and expressed that the accolade is a tribute to all Zhuhai First Vocational School participants. He hopes someday the industry can be driven in creating new China hospitality trends. Likewise, working on setting new Chinese standards for hospitality and keep improving the developments of the industry, of which are always the directions of IFTM. Having the launch of MORS training and assessment, the industry can enhance its competitiveness, as well as promote Macao as a tourism destination with high quality of service.
