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AUG. SEP. 2021 IX exclusively practical activities, we were able to continue operating even in the red zone. In fact, enrolments of Italian students have remained high, while there has been a setback for the foreign market, which is now starting up again”. The school boasts employment rates of over 90%. “Often,” she concludes, “internships turn into jobs. In the last period, then, the employment rate is even higher because of the many requests. We have a job placement service, but right now all of our students are employed”. LOMBARDY CAST ALIMENTI CAST Alimenti, organizes its training activities over two types of courses: High Training: medium-long courses to train complete professional figures, aimed at young people entering the world of work and those who want to undertake a new profession. Specialization: short thematic courses for those who are already professionals. “This dual thread,” explains Vittorio Santoro, director of the school, “is a cornerstone in CAST Alimenti. To enter CAST Alimenti you only need to be 18 years old and have a high school diploma. Of our students, 23% have a university degree, a similar percentage have a hotel diploma, while 21% have a high school diploma and a smaller number have a diploma from other professional and technical institutes”. The more structured Advanced Training courses (Pastry Chef, Restaurant and Hotel Pastry Chef and Cook) include 16 weeks in the classroom + 16 weeks of apprenticeship. In the Cook course, 4 weeks of training are added in the school’s new Central Educational Kitchen. “This structure,” he continues, “has been designed with an original and avant-garde lay-out in terms of kitchen equipment and technology. Extending the apprenticeship by a month in the Central Educational Kitchen allows the student to try his hand at different types of restaurant service. The practical side is expressed at its highest level: the students learn by working and comparing themselves both with each other and with the ‘customer’ they will have to satisfy”. 2020 was a particular year, but in 2021 the situation is positive, especially for Higher Education. “The editions activated in the current year have sold out or are reaching the number of enrolments required for activation,” Santoro points out. “The 2022 editions already have enrolments. Last year’s experience was very useful to us, so much so that we were equipped to respond to the conditions that have arisen again this year. The reorganization of our courses includes both in-person and online activities”. The costs of the three long Advanced Training courses range from 13,900 euros + VAT for Cook to 12,900 euros + VAT for Pastry Chef and Pastry Chef for restaurants and hotels. An investment that pays off. “An internal employment survey,” he concludes, “shows that almost all of those who attended our courses six months after finishing are employed in a restaurant business (more than 80%)”. VENETO ESAC - UNIVERSITA’ DEL GUSTO Università del Gusto is owned by Esac, an emanation of Confcommercio Vicenza. “Our mission,” explains Ernesto Boschiero, CEO of Esac, “is to increase the professionalism of the sector by offering training for owners and staffs of companies, specialization courses for those who already have the basics and opportunities to acquire a qualification for those who, instead, start from scratch or almost. Those who attend have a very diverse background and different levels of competence and schooling, but the goal remains the same: to ensure the acquisition of the best possible professional standards. Addressing a very heterogeneous target, Università del Gusto has a wide range of training courses that take place throughout the year. “For professionals,” he explains, “we focus on short, very focused workshops. For those who want to enter the world of work or improve their skills, we focus on qualification courses, offered on average in two editions a year, which include 300 hours of theory and practice in our centre, followed by an internship placement of 300 hours in selected companies. We also offer courses financed by the European Social Fund, for those without employment. If we exclude the courses to qualification, almost all of our proposals can be at ‘no cost’ for companies enrolled in interprofessional funds or bilateral body that refers to Confcommercio Vicenza. And even the courses for the unemployed are funded and therefore do not involve any charge”. The freeze on in-person training due to Covid has affected enrolment. “But as soon as it was possible to reopen,” he says, “there was a new rush, also due to the strong demand for personnel from the restaurant industry. There is no lack of outlets: many of our students are already employed and choose us to improve their skills. For all the others, finding a job is not a problem: in fact, the demand for personnel is very high. The problem, if anything, is the opposite: we are not able to respond to all the requests that come from companies, which appreciate the professional level achieved by our students”. TUSCANY CORDON BLEU What characterizes the School of Culinary Arts Cordon Bleu of Florence is the close collaboration with institutional training bodies. “We work very well with Hotel management schools,” says Guido Mori, director of the school, “in particular Buontalenti in Florence, for which we take care of teacher training and offer free courses to students to cover part of the hours of practical activity. As far as post-diploma training is concerned, we have organised a three-year bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree and an officially recognised two-year high school, in collaboration with IUL online university. The master requires a three-year degree as a minimum entry requirement, the school of higher education, a diploma. Today the world of catering needs people who know how to use the most modern techniques, but also have management skills and knowledge of the digital world, and these courses provide this type of preparation. For the professional courses,