Zulfat Mukarubega(L), the founder of UTB and an official from Inspire Training Academy after signing the agreement in Qatar
The University of Tourism, Technology and Business Studies (UTB) says that 700 Hospitality and Tourism students will be sent to Qatar for internships and work every year for five years.
The development comes after UTB and Inspire Training Management Academy’ from Qatar signed skills and knowledge transfer agreements at the Rwanda embassy in Qatar on September 22.
Inspire Training Management Academy is one of the premier professional training institutes in Doha, Qatar with the state of the art tourism and hospitality training facility. It trains students in fields including Aviation, Hospitality, Travel and Tourism, Supply Chain Management, Soft Skills, Corporate Leadership, among others.
Prof. Callixte Kabera, Vice Chancellor of UTB said that the signed agreement will help graduating students to get an internship opportunity that will expose them to Hospitality and Tourism skills internationally.
“In the beginning, we shall embark on Hospitality, Tourism and Meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhibitions (MICE) internship programs. Some students could be retained by the trainers,” Prof. Kabera said.
Prof. Kabera said that graduating students will travel to Qatar by the end of 2021, after evaluation and assessments through interviews that will be conducted by the Qatar experts.
“Students will be exposed to the international skills in Hospitality, Tourism and MICE internship studies. They will be provided with transport tickets, feeding allowances and salaries to those who will be there as employees,” Prof. Kabera said.
According to Prof. Kabera, the Rwandan embassy in Qatar will control the day-to-day living of the Rwandan students.
UTB says 500 to 700 Hospitality, Tourism and MICE internship students will be sent to Qatar this year as Qatar prepares to host the World Cup 2022.
“UTB trains students to work locally, regionally and internationally. There are other discussions that are ongoing about employing Rwandans by the United Arab Emirates (UAE),” Prof. Kabera said.
“The cooperation targets a win-win benefit, the Inspire Training Management Academy helped UTB to teach students using the online platform and evaluating student’s dissertation academic works. We have spent the whole year using these platforms. The agreement will help also in the skills and knowledge transfer.”
Prof. Kabera says his institution was allowed to conduct online studies by Higher Education Council (HEC) at the rate of 30%, but the Inspire Training Management Academy has also contributed towards the online studies because of its massive experience.
Zulfat Mukarubega, the founder of UTB said that signing an agreement with Inspire Training Management Academy based in Qatar is a milestone because Qatar is one of the best countries internationally in fields related to Tourism and Hospitality countries.
“So far, we told the students to bring their CVs and passports as they wait for the interviews to be conducted by the experts from Qatar,” Mukarubega said.
“What we request these students is having English proficiency, working hard to pass the interviews and having the Rwandan values. They should keep in mind that they will be representing the country. Any misconduct could lead to the termination of the agreements which is supposed to last for five years, the termination means blocking chances for other students,” Mukarubega added.
