Vocational Learning for Catering Staff

he overriding aim of this project is to increase the level of competence of catering preparing food for the public sector, making the staff more attractive to the job market. An additional aim is to improve the quality of food produced for the public sector. This will also be accomplished by raising the skills level of staff and increasing their competence and professional confidence in the kitchen. It is important to develop the link between vocational training that is available and the actual reality of the work environment and the European job market.

Training opportunities for catering professionals in the workplace are small. There is a need for continual competency development as in all professions, as demands from policies, employers and the job market change requiring catering professionals to develop new skills and master new tasks. The education level of catering staff is often low and therefore extra resources need to be available to ensure that their needs are taken into consideration when training programmes are planned.

The six partners that are involved in the project come from different sectors, but they all share a common goal and that is sustainability. While environmental sustainability focuses on issues such as climate change and organic food, economic sustainability includes a good working environment and competent personnel who can contribute to society, and for that they need vocational training of a good quality that is relevant and current with trends and demand of the labour market and employers. They have experience in vocational training and have realised the value of listening to the feedback that they receive from course participants and want to construct training programmes that answer their needs.

The main outcomes from this project will be a tool box of best practice containing course modules and training programmes that can be used by educators in planning courses for catering professionals to make the training more relevant and closely related to their needs. The project will also lead to the building of a network between the partners and the possibilities for future cooperation and knowledge exchange.

This project is going to act as inspiration and creative input for educators and trainers in catering, as well as creating a tool box of best practice which will offer relevant and interesting training opportunities for catering professionals. This tool box with its accompanying guidelines of use will be a valuable asset for educators and trainers. They will be able to access courses and programmes from the partner countries offering an alternative option to the courses on offer today. Additionally, it can inspire other sectors such as catering staff providing food for the elderly to review the training available and improve their competence.