As many school leavers are yet not sure about their future, NATH is about to start training National Tour Guides in the context of the new National Qualifications Framework. Soon all aspiring Tour Guides will be trained, assessed and licensed in accordance to National Standards. It is in fact expected that in 2 or 3 years all Tour Guides will have to be licenced.
This means that Tour Guiding has taken the important step to become a formal profession.
Already the serious search for possible scholarship loans and investments into a trust fund has begun. And the Namibian Academy for Tourism & Hospitality (NATH) is calling on all aspiring students who want to become national tour guides to come forward and inform themselves about the future possibilities.
An info-meeting will be held on 29 January 2007 at 17h30 (for enquiries please contact Tel. 061-259288 or Fax 061-259221.
We found this opportunity to catch up with international standards in hospitality very exciting, especially when one thinks about the Football World Cup in South Africa in 2010, when tour guides with standard qualifications will definitely have an advantage above others. It could even mean that only certified tour guides will be employed!
When approached by PLUS, the CEO of NATH, Lloyd Ulrich, explained why NATH had to go back to the drawing board and rethink every aspect of training of Tour Guides. And why they are going to implement the new Unit Standards, which will soon be the basic requirement for obtaining a Namibian Tour Guiding qualification. Said Lloyd Ulrich: “In the interest of its partners, NATH will fully implement the Unit Standards as from January 2007”.
Unlike the old NATH courses the Unit Standards have clear recommendations on the duration of training. As a rule of thumb one could say that a day will be necessary to obtain a credit (8h00 - 16h30). This timeframe however incorporates times for practice, assessment and self study (homework). The new system clearly says that training is not compulsory and that it provides for self study as an alternative to attending evening or full day classes. Course participants will in fact be expected to invest into self study. Unlike training, assessment is compulsory for certification - and it will be separated from training. Assessment will be controlled by the Namibia Training Authority (NTA) and will be done by assessors linked to assessment centres. By the way: 3 NATH trainers have already passed the NTA facilitated assessor examination. And NATH will train towards assessment; the trainers of NATH courses will constantly collect and document evidence of competence.
Only the Namibia Training Authority through the Namibia Qualifications Authority can approve and register the credit points needed to obtain a formal qualification. NATH will continue evaluating all its trainees and the tools of assessment will be in line with formal assessment practices and electronically stored by NATH. Did you know that NATH is backed by all important stakeholders in the tourism industry? And that 30 experts are availing themselves to teach students. Thus: NATH is an ideal training platform, controlled by a competent Board.
Costs
While NAPHA, HAN, TASA, TAN and FENATA through their representatives on the NATH Board directly regulate the course fees, NATH will charge an average cost of N$ 340 for every day of training and the cost of internal NATH assessment is included in the registration fee.
In future, employers of Tour Guides will know from where they can employ qualified guides for their tours. Soon every one will be looking for qualified, licenced National Tour Guides. In the interest of quality training and education, NATH plans to have classes restricted to not more than 12 students at a time.
So to avoid frustrations, YOU should book in time for a profession of the future.
Namibia has the potential to become one of Africa’s leading travel and tourism economies over the next decade. In 2016 it is expected that Travel and Tourism will provide 28 845 jobs directly in this industry and 107 797 indirect jobs.
This is certainly exciting news to everybody who is planning a new future and a secure profession in an industry which promises real growth here in Namibia!