Maravi

Sata attaches great importance to education - Masebo
By Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone
Sat 20 July 2013, 14:01 CAT

PRESIDENT Michael Sata attaches great importance to education, says tourism and arts minister Sylvia Masebo.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony of 250 front office and food and beverage graduates from various Livingstone hotels and lodges and trained by the Hotel and Tourism Training Institute, Masebo said President Sata realises that development could only be fully realised when people were learned.

She said the government intended to upgrade the diploma courses at HTTI to degree level.

"The PF government is alive to the fact the tourism sector is an important sector and with the leadership of President Sata we want to grow the sector. President Sata attaches great importance to education which will in turn help us grow various sectors including tourism. He realises that development can only be fully achieved when people are educated. I'm lucky as I have two universities in my constituency and they were launched by the President," Masebo said.

She said that tourism needed to be developed and taken to another level.

"Tourism is the best sector, it is even better than mining because mining deals with extractive resource which deplete but tourism is a sustainable and growing sector," she said.

Masebo said there was need to constantly raise standards in the hospitality industry to be able to be on a global competitive edge.
And Dr Wilson Silungwe said HTTI was vital in the growth of the tourism sector in Zambia.

He urged the graduating students to embrace what they had learnt and start thinking on lines of being entrepreneurs unlike always looking out to be employed.

And Hamlet Mumbuluma, a graduate who works at New Fairmount Hotel, thanked the government for its desire to grow tourism.

"We promise not to let you down. The training has changed us into better people, it has made us ambassador of the tourism sector. The students included housewives and husbands and a repeat of this training would not be a mistake," Mumbuluma said.

HTTI has so far held mobile training programmes in Siavonga involving 53 students, 60 students from Chipata, 63 students from Ndola, and 40 from Kasama.

The Livingstone training is the fifth exercise.

Labels: MICHAEL SATA, SYLVIA MASEBO

posted by MrK @ 5:11 PM