BURDENED with a shortage of kitchen and housekeeping employees, a Philippine company which supplies ships with sailors has partnered with a US-based university to provide skilled workers to its overseas clients.

The Magsaysay Institute of Hospitality and Culinary Arts (MIHCA), a unit of the Magsaysay Group, has announced its partnership with Johnson and Wales University. The partnership is expected to offer world-class training in hospitality and culinary arts education.

Doris Magsaysay-Ho, the company’s president and chairman told reporters that the facility, located at the Times Building in UN Avenue in Manila, has been operating since January this year and hopes to address the shortage of some 800 cooks for the Magsaysay group alone.

“The demand is huge in other companies. But we don’t want this institution to be a diploma mill,” she told reporters.

The Magsaysay group is supplying skilled workers to various ocean vessels including Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. Cruises and local hotels.

Since the said center was established for those intending to be posted abroad, stricter admission rules will be implemented, covering the applicant’s physical and mental health, according to Jay Fernando, the institute’s director.

The institution offers two- to five-month finishing courses for housekeeping, priced at P25,000, and a four- to seven-month culinary and baking and pastry courses, at P95,000.

MIHCA is part of the Magsaysay learning organization that offers certificated and upgrading courses for the maritime profession through the Magsaysay Training Center and the Magsaysay Institute of Shipping in Cavite.

The Magsaysay group entered the shipping industry in 1948 but in the eighties began to help various vessel companies in their staffing requirements. Most of its current earnings are sourced from supplying employees to other companies and only a fraction from its shipping business.

For its  part, Johnson & Wales mainly offers programs in business, hospitality, culinary arts and technology. It has four campuses located in Providence, Rhode Island, North Miami, Florida, Denver, Colorado, and Charlotte, North Carolina.

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