A  MoU to offer Hotel Manage­ment and Catering Technol­ogy courses for XI and XII class students in Central Board of Secondary Education schools was signed between National Council for Hotel Management & Cater­ing Technology (NCHMCT), New Delhi and Central Board of Sec­ondary Education (CBSE), Delhi, 20th July 2010. 26 CBSE schools have opted for “Hospitality and Tourism” as a vocational course from the current academic ses­sion 2010-11 under a pilot project.
Speaking at the function, Ku­mari Selja, Minister for Tourism and Housing and Urban Poverty has said that the contribution of tourism to the country’s GDP was 5.92% and contribution to employment (both direct and indirect) was 9.24% for the year 2007–08. She said, tourism is an important driver in the growth of economy especially in the area of employment generation. The in­direct impact of tourism on econ­omy is much larger. The Minister said, the MoU that was signed between NCHMCT and CBSE is a modest beginning to an initiative that will eventually grow into a comprehensive strategy for vo­cational education in the country.

Kumari Selja said, Union Min­istry of Tourism has launched a flagship programme for young citizens under the ‘Hunar Se Rozgar’ Scheme. The programme with a pro-poor focus envis­ages engaging young persons constructively by giving them employable skills. The scheme offers 6 to 8 weeks training in Food & Beverages Services and Culinary Skills. This pro­gramme, launched in August 2009, has already trained over 5500 persons by 31st March 2010.
She said, buoyed by the exu­berant response, Hunar Se Ro­zgar programme has now been extended through the State Gov­ernments. State Governments can empanel Institutes, both Govern­ment and Private, having neces­sary infrastructure and facilities, as the implementing agencies Ministry has launched another significant programme for im­parting on the job training and certifying them through a system of IHMs. It aims to formally hone the skills of such people through hands on training. She said, this not only aids in their career pro­gression, but also helps the Min­istry to recognize these certifica­tions while classifying the hotels.

The Union Minister for Tourism & Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Kum. Selja and the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Kapil Sibal exchanging the signed documents of an MoU between Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and National Council for Hotel Management & Catering Technology (NCHMCT) to introduce hospitality courses in the vocational stream of CBSE, in New Delhi on July 20, 2010. The Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Smt. D. Purandeswari is also seen.