Education in Les Roches and flying Boeing

I recently met with Mano Soler, a family friend from Malaga, Spain. Mano visited Manila to recruit qualified students to the famed Les Roches International School of Hotel Management where he is director. Les Roches is originally based in Switzerland but has a campus in Marbella, Spain. Mano heads the Marbella campus. Older Filipinos will recognize the school by its original name, École des Roches.

Experience has made me a believer in foreign education. After high school, I sent my daughter to the Universidad de Navarra in Spain where she took International Relations and Diplomacy. What the experience did for her confidence, outlook and independence is something that cannot be gained in local schools. I highly recommend it for those able to send their kids abroad.

Les Roches in Marbella follows the renowned Swiss curriculum. It offers a wide range of Bachelors, Master and Postgraduate degrees. The courses range from hospitality management, to entrepreneurship, to marketing & management of luxury tourism, to sports & events management, among many others. Les Roches is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), the same accreditation exclusively obtained by ivy league universities.

The mode of instruction is English and Spanish/French; German and Mandarin are offered as second languages. The student body of 1,100 students is composed of 96 nationalities, ten of whom are Filipino. Exposure to different nationalities is a vital part of the learning experience.

The Malaga campus is a full immersion experience where students study, work and live in the campus. The school is built like a village with numerous hotels and restaurants within. Tuition fees are approximately 140,000 euros per year for an undergraduate course and 30,000 euros for master’s degrees.

During the course, Les Roches offers internship programs in prestigious institutions across 150 countries. The students get to choose the establishment and city in which to fulfill their internship program, based on their interests and specialities.

Les Roche boast a hiring rate of 97 percent after graduation. Every year, some 100 hospitality companies from around the world come to the