Sala Baï Hotel and Restaurant School

Sala Baï Hotel and Restaurant School (Khmer: សាលា​បណ្តុះ​បណ្តាល​ផ្នែក​សណ្ឋាគារ​​សាលា​បៃ) is a vocational training school established in 2002 by the French non-governmental organization Agir Pour le Cambodge. It is one of the oldest running hospitality training schools in the country.^[1] Sala Baï Hotel and Restaurant School has partnerships with more than 30 of Cambodia's four and five star hotels.^[2]

Sala Baï Hotel and Restaurant School

Founded	2002 (2002)
Founder	Agir Pour le Cambodge
Headquarters	Siem Reap , Cambodia
Services	vocational training
Website	salabai.com/en/

It provides free one-year training in cooking, front office, restaurant service, housekeeping and beauty treatment to 150 young (17–23 year-old) Cambodians a year from underprivileged families.^[1] Sala Baï Hotel and Restaurant School prioritizes training young women, therefore approximately 70% of its students are female. During their training, all students are required to do two two-month internships at two different hotels.^[2]

By 2022 around 2,000 students had graduated from the Sala Baï Hotel and Restaurant School.^[2] 70 percent of them were employed immediately, while the rest managed to find a job within three weeks after graduating.^[1] One of the schools most prominent alumni is Kimsan Sok, former executive chef of the restaurant Embassy,^[3] who graduated Sala Baï Hotel and Restaurant School in 2003.^[4] In 2014 a training spa and beauty centre was established in the school with the support from the Chanel Foundation.^[5] In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Smart Axiata donated computers, tablets and LCD projectors to Sala Baï Hotel and Restaurant School to help it continue providing distance education to the school's students.^[6]

References

1. Runcie, Ayanna (27 February 2016). "Off-the-job training in hospitality". The Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
2. Boulenger, Emilie (28 January 2011). "Hotel partnership enables NGO to supply trained staff". The Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
3. Holzmeister, Carolina (30 May 2019). "An insight into Cambodian cuisine: interview with executive chef Kimsan Sok". eHotelier. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
4. Glasser, Miranda (6 June 2014). "Sala Baï final dinner a winner". The Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
5. Walsh, Alistair (4 January 2013). "Sala Bai and Chanel partner for spa school". The Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
6. Rinith, Taing (12 August 2020). "Smart Axiata supports Sala Bai and Bayon Pastry School to continue distance learning for students". Khmer Times. Retrieved 16 June 2021.

External links

• Official website of Sala Baï Hotel and Restaurant School (in English and French)