The students are ploughing back their skills by teaching learners from surrounding schools about hospitality industry.

Community Service Learning module,  currently offered by the Department of Hospitality Management, is intended to teach these learners a basic course in hospitality management, which helps the department to meet the objectives of the National Skills Development Strategy and CUT’s Vision 2020 - as an engaged university. The students are afforded the opportunity to be actively involved in the socio-economic development of the community by providing skills to school learners from various high schools which include:  Petunia, Heatherdale, Martie Du Plessis, Navalsig, Jim Fouché and Eunice. I really took up this opportunity because I wanted to make a difference in the lives of learners in these schools. Now I appreciate my lecturers more. Teaching these learners was hard, but I enjoyed every moment of it,” said Jacques Oosthuysen, a third-year student in Hospitality Management. 

Rorisang Makae, who is one of the learners from these schools, represents a number of youth who are eager to acquire new sets of skills to become productive in their lives.   She and other learners were exposed to the exciting world of hospitality management to become waiters in restaurants during school breaks to earn an income.  “I had such fun while I was learning to organize myself and work with diverse people, “she said. Each year the Hotel School sets targets to increase the number of schools that can be accommodated in the programme.  About 160 learners where involved in the project over a period of 18 hours compared to 90 that the school accommodated in 2012.  These learners were awarded certificates upon the successful completion of the service learning module as evidence of their achievement.  

In celebration of the achievement, the Hotel School hosts a final event for the learners and their student teachers. The theme of the event was Carnival and gave all the participants a chance to engage in fun activities for an afternoon.