Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM) is the leader in Tourism and Hospitality education in Sri Lanka, playing a dominant role in providing both local and overseas hospitality sector with skilled employees for its broad array of professional services.
They have so far created several thousands of hospitality employees serving locally and internationally. In addition to the hotel school located on Colombo, there are 08 branches operating around the country making it possible for students coming from remote locations to gain knowledge and training from professionally qualified lecturers and instructors in well-equipped academic and training environments.
One of these prestigious schools is SLITHM, located in New Town, Ratnapura on the route to Colombo, and it is recognized as the only institution in the Ratnapura District, capable of offering state-recognized courses in tourism and hospitality management.
SLITHM Ratnapura, the biggest hotel school in the Sabaragamuwa Province, was founded on the 31 August 2010 and has been gaining increasing prominence for the past 14 years with its capability of providing students with excellent knowledge and skill training in its air-conditioned classrooms with multimedia, well-facilitated computer lab and fully-equipped kitchen and restaurant, model guest rooms where students can attend lectures and receive training at a time.
More than fifty batches of students which include both Certificate level and Craft Level have successfully completed and joined industry having followed the courses available at SLITHM, Ratnapura since it was founded. The institute offers courses in two categories; Craft-level programs for those who have failed/studied up to in G.C.E. (Ordinary Level) examination and Certificate-level courses for those who have passed G.C.E. (Ordinary Level) examination with a minimum of six subjects including English and Mathematics. All these courses are tailored to grant NVQ Level 3/4 certification.
SLITHM, Ratnapura possesses total operational capacity to offer courses in Front Office, Housekeeping, Food and Beverage and Cookery, which are the four major disciplines of Hospitality Management. Availability of these particular courses signifies its outstanding ability to provide students with highstandard knowledge and skills training.
During its 14-year-long lifespan, SLITHM, Ratnapura has seen 30 craft-level batches and 26 certificate-level batches join the hospitality industry having successfully completed its courses and the 30th craft-level batch and the 26th certificate-level batch are scheduled to leave the premises by the end of the year 2024. Accordingly, this hotel school has so far produced thousands of well-trained personnel for both local and foreign hospitality establishments and a vast of them have managed to achieve a significant level of career excellence.
Despite being the leading hotel school in the Ratnapura district, the fact that students studying at SLITHM, Ratnapura are not only from the Ratnapura and Kegalle districts proves its outstanding success as one of the eminent hotel schools in the island.
The school holds the total operational capacity of handling 120 students at a time with four classes each with 30 students in its four disciplines. The maximum 30-student capacity of each class has been forced to increase up to 35-40 due to the tremendously increasing demand in present years. This trend is seen as a positive move favorably affecting both the hotel school and the hospitality industry. As the number of certificate-level students of the first batch of 2024 reaches 140, steps have been taken to conduct craft-level courses as evening programs from 1.45 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. accommodating about 100 students.
Additionally, an NVQ Level 4 weekend course in Food and Beverage was launched in 2022, having classes and practical sessions on Saturday and Sunday with 40 students in each batch and the first three batches have already left the premises for career opportunities. Therefore, the school is now functioning at its total operational capacity handling 250-270 students at a time.
The hotel school has active involvement in job placement of students once they complete their courses maintaining effective communication with all respective stakeholders of the hospitality industry. Those who successfully complete certificate courses are eligible for six-month on-the-job training and Craft level students are required to work for a period of 12 months in the industry. It is remarkable that having completed their courses, all students find it almost effortless to find career opportunities at star-class hotels.
Employees who are already employed in the hospitality industry with the required amount of experience are eligible to apply for NVQ certification from the hotel school via the RPL system. This facility is also available at SLITHM, Ratnapura.
Due to the increased demand from both local and foreign hospitality institutions, the employability as well as job security is considerably high for hotel school students. Hospitality industry is regarded as one of the fastest gateways to grab foreign employment opportunities credit to its rapid expansion, diversification and innovation.
Plans are underway at SLITHM, Ratnapura to offer tailor-made short-term courses during the weekends in order to respond to the diverse demands of the growing aspects of the industry.
The permanent academic staff at SLITHM, Ratnapura consists of a total of six lecturers including two Food and Beverage lecturers, two Professional cookery lecturers, one Front Office Lecturer and one Housekeeping lecturer along with the principal of the school. In addition, visiting lecturers are attached to the hotel school to teach foreign languages such as English, German, French and also Information Technology.
The success story of SLITHM, Ratnapura is marked by its ability to function in its full capacity in recent years despite the fact that it struggled to attract students to its courses in early years as Ratnapura is not much reputed for tourism related economic activities, except the Gem and Mineral Industry.
The students from SLITHM, Ratnapura succeeded in joining the first five winners at Supreme Chef Competition although they came from remote areas with minimum infrastructure and exposure to the border society.
In addition to well-supervised academic work, the students at SLITHM, Ratnapura are lucky enough to engage themselves in diverse co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, focusing on the development of their soft skills such as personality, leadership skills, communication skills, team work etc.
The location of the school provides its stakeholders with convenience and tranquility as it is located in New Town, Ratnapura between the courts complex and the provincial council complex.
The SLITHM Ratnapura, is well set the mission of catering plentiful and shilled human capital for the tourism and Hospitality industry for both domestic and off share demands.
K.D Nugawela,
Principal,
SLITHM,
Ratnapura.
T.P-0452226464/0452226262
Web-www.slithm.edu.lk
