THE Tourism, Hospitality, Entrepreneurship International Management School (IMS) of the Joji Ilagan International Schools (JIIS) will open its doors for entrepreneurial and tourism students by August of this year.
According Joji Ilagan Bian, chairperson of the JIB Group of Companies, they have partnered with the London School of Business and Finance in operating the entrepreneurial school which specifically caters to students who have an end-goal of becoming a businessman or have an executive position.
“So everyone who finishes here, the target really is to occupy an executive position or to put up their own business. That’s very clear from the very beginning. If you want to be managers or you want to be entrepreneurs, you come here,” she said.
The seven-storey building, with its chic interior, is filled up with state-of-the-art facilities that would best aide the learning demands of the students.
The IMS will also offer a cabin crew program intended to provide extensive and hands-on training for everyone who wishes to become flight attendants. A mock airline cabin room was made in one of the classrooms wherein the students will train in what feels like an actual airplane.
There are also specialized rooms like the wine-tasting room and a media laboratory specially intended for specific classes.
As what Bian had been doing with her previous schools as StockBridge International School and the Institute of International Culinary and Hospitality Entrepreneurship (IChef), her partnering with international partners is a way to raise the standards and the performance of the graduates of her schools.
She said, because their diplomas and their curriculum are loyally patterned after their international partners, their graduates are automatically accredited in these countries whenever they plan to work there or pursue further study. She added their partners see them as equal partners and assured no discrimination had been involved for the past students who applied abroad.
Bian added she sees the need for her school to be innovative and to specialize on what the students really need and what they want to be in the long run.
“We hope to bring the same kind of innovation here in IMS, not only for tourism but also for franchising, retailing here in this school. This is built for that kind of business to business environment,” she said.
When asked how she perceives the receipt of the Dabawenyos with her new management school, she said her previous schools had been received with much warmth and loyalty so she hopes for the same as well in her new school.
“I’ve always believed in Davao’s economy. Davao is a market that is difficult to please, but once you have pleased them, they are very loyal market. They will follow you all throughout,” she said. (JPA)