Don seeks hospitality studies in school curriculum

A lecturer at the University of Calabar (UNICAL), Prof. Bassey Esu, has advocated the introduction of hospitality studies across the country’s secondary schools.

He said this followed the crucial role hospitality plays in every human endeavour.

Esu made the call while delivering the institution’s 136th inaugural lecture titled: ‘Hospitality-centric philosophy: The spirit and soul of destination product and the piggyback of development.’

While describing hospitality as a behaviour, the university teacher said its importance and socio-economic effects in the society cannot be over-emphasised.

“Therefore, without any hesitation, it is hereby proposed that hospitality should be introduced at the senior secondary school level as a basic course.”

Besides, he recommended that a stand-alone programme in hospitality management should be incorporated into universities’ Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standard (CCMAS).

Esu also stressed the need to separate hospitality from the current department of hospitality and tourism management, saying each programme deserves to be studied separately.

In her goodwill message, the Vice Chancellor, Prof Florence Obi,
assured the management’s readiness to implement some of the recommendations made in the lecture.

Obi charged other academics, especially senior professors, to brace up for their respective inaugural lectures, noting that it is one debt every academic must fulfil while in the university.