On World Tourism Day yesterday, almost 800 students started a new scholastic year at the Institute for Tourism Studies.
The students, including 585 freshers, were urged by Tourism Minister Karmenu Vella to do their utmost on the course they were following because they were the future of the country’s tourism industry that was a main pillar of the economy.
He noted that this year’s intake was double that of the past. Students, he added, would have new services such as a full-time counsellor, guidance and career officers and two chaplains.
The majority of the new intake, 207 students, are following a course leading to a certificate in food preparation and production and 125 are doing a diploma course in culinary arts.
This year’s intake was double that of the past
Seventy-five students have opted for a foundation course in tourism and enterprise and 50 are studying to obtain a certificate in the hospitality trade.
Eleven others are following a higher diploma course in tourist guides. The ITS offers a number of other courses.
The new ITS scholastic year risked starting on a wrong footing after the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) complained on Thursday that members were told to teach subjects in which they were not proficient.
The MUT said lecturers were being assigned subjects they were not qualified in and which they had not applied to teach.
Mr Vella told Times of Malta that the problem was quickly solved, adding that it had been extensively discussed with the teachers’ union.
The minister visited a number of tourism operators yesterday to mark World Tourism Day and also planted a tree on the occasion.