The Royal Academy of Culinary Arts (RACA) on Wednesday announced the launch of its bachelor’s degree in food and beverage management, which will start in mid-October this year. This will allow RACA to become a technical university college.

The announcement was made during a press briefing on RACA’s premises, mainly attended by Chairman of RACA’s Board of Trustees Wajeh Oweis, RACA’s Director Jacques Rossel, RACA’s Deputy Director Asem Ahmad Oweis and RACA’s staff members, as well as media representatives.

Following RACA’s many years of delivering its two-year diploma programme in culinary arts, the academy launched its very first bachelor’s programme in cooperation with Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL), one of the top hospitality management schools in the world.

The academy was founded in 2008 with the aim to fulfill His Majesty King Abdullah’s vision of "a culinary school in Jordan operating at the highest international standards,” the RACA website said, adding that RACA is an associate member of the network of EHL-certified schools.

The academy, a local non-profit educational institution, is part of the King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD), which aims to support youth employment, women’s empowerment, aid the Kingdom’s tourism industry and reduce dependence on foreign expertise in the hotel and restaurant sectors.

Oweis gave an overview of RACA’s objectives in his opening remarks and expressed his pleasure with RACA’s transformation into a technical university college.

Furthermore, Oweis added that the bachelor’s programme will combine culinary arts with food and beverage management. He also noted that students will receive a "hands-on” programme taught entirely in English and two internship semesters in a five-star hotel in the Kingdom or abroad.

"The Kingdom will be in need of no less than 16,000-20,000 new graduates in the hospitality sector over the next five years,” Oweis pointed out, adding that the employability rate is 90 per cent among RACA’s graduates, most of whom find their jobs during their internship.

"Over the years, RACA has proven to be a market leader in culinary education, graduating over 700 students,” Rossel said during the press briefing. "RACA is proud to be part of Jordan’s ever-growing tourism industry,” he added.

Rossel said that amid the pandemic, the hospitality sector is focused on the safety of food it provides to tourists and guests, which he described as a "major responsibility”, in addition to shedding the light on "local ingredients” and the food culture in Jordan