Indian students can now get to learn hospitality from the best in the business — the Europeans. Subarno Bose’s Institute of Advance Management has recently tied up with Napier University Business School (NUBS) in Edinburgh to offer a bachelors degree in hospitality management. As part of the deal, students can either go to Edinburgh to complete their final year or stay right here and still get their degree awarded by Napier University. If one chooses the former option, then one would have to cough up a lump sum while the other comes at the normal cost of studying for a regular degree. Says Subarno Bose, mentor, International Group (which promotes IAM), “Going abroad to study works out well since students can avail of bank loans and pay them at their convenience later.”

What’s left unsaid is that most students at IAM who take up the option of going to Edinburgh, end up better placed when it comes to jobs. Under the Fresh Talent Visa Scheme, students can work up to 20 hours per week to pay for their course, and can stay in the UK for two years after they graduate. Needless to say, they work very hard and make themselves indispensable so that after two years, their employers happily sponsor their work visas. They end up with only the benefits. Most get to flaunt high-profile jobs at premier hotels like the Sheraton at Dubai or London, among their less-lucky peers (who don’t have the benefit of a British degree). And with huge salaries to boot, they usually end up repaying their loan in no time.

How did this collaboration come about? Subarno Bose had worked with other institutes in the UK before and when he approached Napier with a proposal, they found it hard to refuse. Even though it is only their first year of operation, things are going very smoothly. Also, faculty from Britain visit the Indian campus of IAM. “We come down here for 2-3 weeks, introduce the programme and the modules, after which the local faculty takes over,” says Ross Sutherland, senior lecturer and teaching fellow, school of marketing & tourism, Napier University Business School, on a visit to Calcutta. The foreign faculty come over once in April (when the course commences) and once in January. Since IAM has two campuses in Calcutta and Goa, the process gets repeated there too. The faculty also remains in touch with the students over e-mail. There’s also a concept of feedback. A specially appointed staff-student liaison from both Napier and IAM remain in constant touch and convey any problems or constructive criticisms that the students might have. Also, a co-ordinator in Napier deals exclusively with courses, modules and students queries from India.

The expenses for the third year abroad work out to about £5,600 (course fee) and £6,000 for living. Bank loans are easily available and especially so since IAM is AICTE-accredited and thus, the state banks don’t shy away,” says Kushal Chatterjee, programme leader in-country delivery for Napier University. And if you want to get the British degree right here, then it comes to £600 as course registration fees. This is payable halfway through the semester, he adds. Says Tushav Vig, a third year student (who’s opted for the British degree while staying here), “The campus placements are really good and the market always values a foreign stamp.”

Students here are geared up for their third year abroad. From day one, they are engaged in running the hotel while studying so they are adept at handling the nitty gritties of the hotel business, right from waiting on a table, to tending a bar, to running the hotel in general. Their year in the UK is spent in going over the strategic part of the business. Says Ravneet Gill, a third year student, “The management focus of the curriculum helps us immensely. Also, the international degree raises our market value.”

Says Sutherland, “The course taught in Napier is very theoretical and is very different from the vocational bent that exists in Indian campuses. Topics like restaurant management, bar management, hospitality management are taught. Students get to do live and group projects. Companies usually come to Napier with a specific problem and the students engage their talents in trying to come up with solutions.” This much-needed thrust on the strategic business side of the hotel industry pays off quite well. In fact, Indian students never want for a job even though there is no concept of campus placements in the UK. For the good thing about this business is that the demand for employees far outweighs the supply of those jobs.

And just what makes these Indian students such a hit? Sutherland for one, thinks that her Indian wards are far more polite and well-behaved in their interaction compared to her other students. As a result their customer service skills are excellent. That translates into more business for their employers.

It’s not only an education for the Indian students, they also imbibe the lifestyle. Fitting in, cooking for oneself, working part-time, studying hard and juggling various responsibilities, these students do well for themselves.

So if you are charmed by the hotel industry and want to take it up as a career then consider this course.