To encourage lifetime education advocated by the Macao SAR Government, the Institute For Tourism Studies has set up a series of tourism service related courses under the “Community Education and Development Programme (CEDP)”. The Programme opens up opportunities for continuous learning and is free of charge to all Macao BIR holders. The augural ceremony of the CEDP Training Centre was hosted on 10 December at IFT Taipa Campus and representatives from the Programme’s 21 community and industry partners officiated the augural ceremony. Macao as a international tourism destination calls for more qualified personnel to join various sectors of the tourism industry. To meet the demand of the industry, IFT has established the “Community Education and Development Programme”. The objective of the Programme is to provide vocational trainings to all Macao residents who are interested to pursue a career in the tourism industry. Courses provided by CEDP include: events, hospitality, retailing, advertisement designing, paper modeling for commercial display, computer simulation, IT, recreational activities, elementary English and Mandarin. In order to allow more people to benefit from the “Community Education Development Programme”, IFT has invited 21 associations and industry partners to join in this meaningful programme to build an extensive network, including União Geral das Associações dos Moradores de Macau, The Women's Association of Macau, Macao Federation of Trade Unions, The Chinese Educators Association of Macau and General Association of Chinese Students. In addition, CEDP also enjoys cooperation with: Association of Macao Tourist Agents, Travel Industry Council of Macau, Macau Travel Agency Association, Macau Tourist Guide Association, Associação dos Profissionais da Indústria de Viagens e Turismo de Macau, Associação de Hotéis de Macau, Macau Hoteliers & Innkeepers Association, The United Association of Food and Beverage Merchants of Macao, Associação Culinária de Macau, Macau Chinese-Style Refreshment Chefs' Association, Association of Bartenders and Sommeliers Macau, Macau Association of Retailers & Tourism Services, Macau Retail Management Association(MRMA), Macao Convention & Exhibition Association, Associação de Comércio e Exposições de Macau and Association of Advertising Agents of Macau. Through the extensive network of the associations and encouraging the members to take part in the various training programmes, the general service quality of Macao can be enhanced. In additional to general course, CEDP and its training partners will co-organised tailor-made courses, such as the collaboration plan with Centro Ngai Chon of the União Geral das Associações dos Moradores de Macau. Under this collaboration plan, 8 courses will be provided for internal training and 10 courses on advertisement designing, paper modeling for commercial display, and organising recreational activities will be available for public applications. It is hope that through the cooperation with the training partners, the message on lifetime education and training opportunities can be spread to all Macao residents. Since September 2009, CEDP has trained almost 650 students. A new series of courses with topics on events, advertisement design, paper modeling for commercial display, computer skills, recreational activities, elementary English and Mandarin will 825 training placements. Through these opportunities of free training, the general quality of residents will be enhanced, which will facilitate the prosperity and sustainability of Macao economy. For information about course application, please visit the website http://www.ift.edu.mo/news/cedp/ad.pdf.
