Opening Culinary Training Centers Egypt

Under the auspices of H.E. Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, Minister of Tourism, the first-ever Culinary Training Center in Egypt opened its door on the 30th of October, 2011. The opening ceremony was attended by Hisham Za’zou, Senior Advisor to the Minister of Tourism; Elhamy Elzayat, President of the Egyptian Tourism Federation; Hussein Badran, Senior Training Consultant of the Egyptian Tourism Federation; Mohamed Barakat, Chairman of Akhbar Al Youm; among many other officials and hospitality industry professionals.

The state-of-the-art equipped training center for chefs and aspiring young Egyptians who wish to become chefs is located at Akhbar Al Youm Academy in 6th of October city.  Within the same training project, a second similarly-equipped training center is located at the Faculty of Tourism & Hotels Luxor, South Valley University. Both centers in total have the capacity to train approximate 480 students annually in the skills of professional cooking to become certified chefs in accordance with international global standards.  The Culinary Training Centers Egypt are financially funded by the Ministry of Tourism, and managed by the Egyptian Tourism Federation, with the technical assistance of the Egyptian Chefs Association and know-how of European senior specialists provided by the EU-funded project TVET.

The Egyptian Chefs Association, established in 1997, and already renowned for its quality chef’s training program, provided the bilingual (English and Arabic) training materials for the International Chefs Apprenticeship program. As independent third body, the Association is also responsible for the examination and evaluation of the students to ensure international standards are met. The culinary instructors of the centers have been in training with Chef Markus Iten, President of the Egyptian Chefs Association, and employed by the Egyptian Tourism Federation for one year as Head of the Culinary Department of the Culinary Training Centers Egypt, to be qualified and well-equipped to train the future generation of chefs in Egypt.

To complete the program, students at the Culinary Training Centers Egypt can enroll into the International Chef’s Apprenticeship Program either on a full-time basis for six months or on a part-time basis for one year. Due to the subsidy of the Ministry of Tourism and support from the private sector through Corporate Social Responsibility funds, the students pay a tuition fee as low as LE 1,500 and up to a maximum of LE 7,500, depending on their demographic background and employment status.

The fast growing hospitality industry is a labor intensive sector, which provides jobs to serve the many young Egyptians seeking employment. The Culinary Training Centers Egypt will offer future job seekers the high quality training they need to get employed and provide them with good career prospects in the sector. UN figures place at 62% the proportion of the population under 29, with almost 40% between the ages of 10 to 29. Job creation and education for direct employment are therefore on top of the priority list for the country’s well-being and development.

The Culinary Training Centers Egypt answer to the country’s priorities in bringing employment and career opportunities to young Egyptians and in improving the standards and services offered to tourists visiting the country.

For more information on the Culinary Training Centers Egypt (CTCE) or enrollment call the CTCE directly on 02-39124938 / 923 or the Egyptian Chefs Association on 02-3762-2116 / 7 / 8 or visit Int'l Chefs Apprenticeship Program Page on our website