The scope for German dual vocational training in the Egyptian hotel industry

Abstract

Since the introduction of German dual vocational training programmes to the Egyptian education system in the early 1990s, despite the high profile of tourism's role as one of Egypt’s most important economic sectors, the Egyptian-German Hotel School Paul Rahn in El Gouna is the only example of a dual vocational based school in the country’s hotel sector. Its mission has been defined as the provision of qualified staff for the hotel industry and providing career opportunities to young people, mainly from financially disadvantaged families. Setting out from this background, this thesis aims at analyzing the scope for German dual vocational training in the Egyptian hotel industry by evaluating its success and acceptance as well as the hotel school's potential of becoming a role model for the systematic introduction of hotel related studies on a national basis. The evaluation of the school's performance shows that although there are still numerous and serious weaknesses to be overcome in the daily school operation, student selection and quality, the school's overall concept has gained the hotel industry’s unquestionable support so that the basis for its future success has been laid. However, severe shortcomings still exist in the realization of the school's mission of supporting financially weak students: it will be illustrated with the help of a field study among El Gouna Hotel School students that the majority of students do not originate from poor and modest social backgrounds but well-established families from the upper lower classes; their children are generally not interested in a long term career in the hotel industry resulting in many post graduation drop outs. However, especially for children from poorer families the analysis of the hotel school graduates' income situation and career development indicates that the school has the potential to act as an excellent tool for poverty alleviation and social stabilization by significantly contributing to the improvement of its former students' and their families' financial situation and career development. When overcoming its current weaknesses and enabling young people from financially disadvantaged backgrounds to enrol, the school will effectively be able to serve both as a national role model for high quality hotel training and provide attractive future perspectives for Egypt's younger generations for non-university entry level positions.