With humanity’s exponential growth on so many fronts, from science to technology, multiculturalism to progressive social leaps, it is imperative that we prepare our youth, equipping them with the right tools and pathways for learning, so that they can walk into that future with confidence and skills.
Therefore come under great scrutiny of late, as parents and educators step away from old school norms to find modules which supports our youths’ place in our unchartered future. Whether it is the technological knowhow to stay abreast of relevant developments, the flexibility to adapt to change, the time management skills to prioritise, the tools to self-motivate and — learn, or simply the ability to access knowledge.
With many jobs today slated to become obsolete tomorrow, and many future jobs yet to be imagined, the youth of today face an exciting, if unchartered, future.
ICWW International Classroom Without Walls is a new informal private school here in Chiang Mai, designed to prepare students to confidently enter, and become leaders of, the hospitality industry.
Chiang Mai, and in fact Thailand and SouthEast Asia as a whole, has a thriving tourism industry, and yet many here have to travel elsewhere, at great cost, to study hotel management before returning to their home town. Others who can’t afford it end up at entry level jobs, working their way up the system, while those with better access to hospitality education arrive at mid- to higher-level positions. The aim of ICWW is to therefore offer affordable international education standards for everyone, right here in Chiang Mai.
Students can begin with a foundation course, which is equivalent to a high school certificate, the course taking between 6-9 months, depending on the student themselves, for anyone aged 15 and over.
There is also a Bachelor’s Degree in Hotel Management available which offers a flexible, and varied price-point, of options for students including self-study, classroom study, internships in local as well as international hotels as well as the chance to join classmates in New Zealand for study abroad experience.
Whether the student chooses to focus on management, marketing, food and beverage, tourism, operations or any other area of the hospitality industry, there is a variety of modules to choose from, and experiences to be had.
ICWW has already forged partnerships with five star hotel brands here in Chiang Mai, all of whom are ready to take on students for work experience, an invaluable opportunity right here on our doorstep.
Partnering with New Zealand’s PIHMS, founded in 1995 in New Plymouth, 98% of PIHMS’s students find employment after graduation through Paid Industry Placement in New Zealand, a figure, ICWW is aiming to also attain.
ICWW was first founded here in Chiang Mai as PlayBot Robotics Academy, in 2012. Over the years, it has successfully encouraged and open minds of children who have developed extraordinary technological innovations, winning awards and great praise for their achievements. It was the model of self-learning of the robotics school that lead its founder, Nattinee Nimitsil, who is passionate about education reform, to reach out to PIHMS to found ICWW, Chiang Mai’s first truly international, flexible curriculum hospitality degree programme aimed at supporting our region’s expanding hospitality industry.
Students will be encouraged to choose how to study, when to study, where to study, and what experiences they wish to gain, while being guided by professionals in both the education and the hospitality fields.
For more information please contact: icwwcnx@gmail.com
Or visit: www.icwwcnx.com
