EKGS Culinary Institute makes strides
The EKGS Culinary Institute, a private culinary training school based in Accra, was established in 1991 as a culinary service provider, courtesy the initiative of Mrs Efua Otuwaa Goode-Obeng Kyei, whose passion for the culinary arts inspired her to do so.
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According to the school’s records, the institute, then a culinary service provider, was primarily offering catering services to the Ghanaian public. Over the years, the institute, from a humble beginning with six students, has transformed its operations and added culinary training.
Guiding principle
Guided by the principle of not settling for less, the institute runs a three-year training programme which involves the training of in-house staff to meet international standards, courses in cake-making and decoration, which include sugar art, pastry art and cookery art, as well as floral, balloon, and ribbon decor.
These courses are run within a stream of six months, under an intensive scheme and course curriculum, which is subjected to a review annually to meet international standards.
The institute attracts students from the sub-region and has provided top-notch chefs and cuisine staff for the nation’s top hotels and other cuisine houses. It has also trained over 3,000 students within and outside the country.
32nd graduation
The 32nd graduation ceremony of EKGS, celebrated on the theme: ‘Building Solid Human Capital through Hospitality’, in Accra recently, was attended by former President John Agyekum Kufuor, who was the special guest.
He counselled the Ghanaian youth to not look down on their chosen vocations but to persevere to ensure their success.
He told graduating students that the vocations they had chosen for themselves compared favourably with any others, such as those in the health and educational sectors.
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He added that for them to succeed, they needed to persevere.
“Pursue your service with diligence because I tell you, when you persevere, your service is as good as your cousins in the health department, in the education department,” he said.
Former President Kufuor congratulated the graduating students and those who won awards, wishing them all good tidings for the Yuletide.
The Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Madam Abla Dzifa Gomashie, who was the guest of honour, emphasised the need for Ghanaians to consume made-in-Ghana goods and products, stressing that it was critical for everyone to join the promotion and consumption of Ghanaian products because that was one of the best ways to help grow the economy and develop the nation.
Challenges
The Director of the institute, Mrs Efua Otuwaa Goode-Obeng Kyei, said the period of the students’ training and skills acquisition had been very challenging as a result of the irregular power situation in the country and appealed to the government to do more to ensure stable power supply and to save businesses from collapsing.
“The development of every country hinges on the availability and reliability of electricity to power its industries. But the situation in which we find ourselves in the country now is far from the ideal. Industries are smarting under the unreliable supply of electricity, with those which cannot cope with the burden folding up, while others have had to cut down cost by laying off their workers,” she said.
She advised the graduands to let their light shine before men in all their endeavours so they would be acknowledged, saying: “It is only by bringing out the goodness in you that you can make an impact on your fellow human beings and be a blessing to them.”
The ceremony also featured the exhibition of cakes of many colours and sizes as well as pastries and flowers.