What the hell drugs are the hierarchy at Tasmanian Polytechnic at Drysdale on? It has been decreed that the previously three year Certificate 3 in Commercial Cookery course will now be delivered in an accelerated form within 12 months.
What kind of mockery does that make of every single chef who has trained there in the past?
What kind of “chef” would graduate as a fully trained chef after only 12 months training?
What about starting them on a Certificate 1, then if they manage to stick it out and successfully complete that, upgrade them to a Certificate 2, then a Certificate 3 if appropriate. But there is absolutely no way anyone could ever be called a chef after only one years training.
I do not want to eat at a restaurant where the chef has only undergone 12 months of training in order to gain his/her qualification, then waltzed in to claim top dollar as the qualified chef!
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19 comments:
Some colleges on the main land offer this certificate in 6 months full time and others 12 months - I dont know if there is anything wrong with it? As a 3 year apprenticeship, a student would be doing the same training part time. I think I would like to see far more time on the job, perhaps post this certificate a log, to calculate hours before one could say they are qualified?
It doesnt say much when in Tasmania that at the end of studying a commercial cookery cert 3 either under an apprenticeship or full time in 12 mths that you would end up with the same certificate, I think this is the problem. I guess the two would be slightly different, one would have a Skills Institute logo and the other a Polytechnic!
I believe in your comment that it should be a gradual progression, successful at Cert I, yes move to Cert 2, successful at that level, you may earn the right to continue to Cert 3.
It is so backwards in Australia anyway. Why not just train chefs as they do in Europe? Start as a commie chef, then go to chef de partie, then sous chef then progress to head chef. I found it very odd that here people can go to college and come out and say they are a qualified chef having not worked up the ranks in the kitchen.
Our apprentice has just completed her cakes,pastries & yeasted products unit at Drysdale where she had to make a cake using a packet mix!
You are kidding me!! Mind you, I've never in my life bought or made a packet mix cake, so probably the lesson would have been handy for me!
I guess most cafes and a lot of restaurants now use packet or pre mix so Drysdale is training to INDUSTRY STANDARD. On fastracking, I don't think serious employers will pick these people up as 'qualified' chefs. Afterall , you get what you pay for.
Too many cafes buy in frozen pre-made cakes, defrost them and serve
Anyone been to Pilgrim Coffee yet?
Looks to me that one will soon be able to be a chef just by buying an iPhone!
Anon 11.20 - that very thought occurred to me too!
It's a disgrace!
Mind you, when I go somewhere to eat the furtherest thing from my mind is thinking about how many years the chef spent training for the moment when they would have the privilege of serving me some nosh.
Frankly, I couldn't give a rat's proverbial.
What matters to me is how good the food is.
Good chefs are passionate about the quality of the food they are presenting.
I'd rather enjoy a decent meal prepared by a self-taught cook, rather than some bland meal dished up by a "qualified" chef that's just defrosted some PFD shite and deep fried it.
well you think thats bad i heard they are running certificate three in patisserie over a period of 25 weeks, i feel sorry for the teachers who have to deliver it and their credibility is on the end of the line because they have no choice and are expected to turn out students with a qualification. having done some part time teaching there in the past I can tell you the teachers there know whats right but the management have no idea ,
as a regular eater at Drysdale and a student , i just want to say how fantastic the teachers are. I think the main problem is they are so under resourced they cant use good quality ingredients or resources because they simply dont have the money to do it ,the teachers are passionate but working under difficult cicumstances . Students are not blind to it either
Here we have my thoughts....
- Firstly, the Cert 3 commercial cookery course at Drysdale currently takes 1.5 years to complete. Not 3 years.
- A cert 3 in commercial cookery was never a chef's qualification. No one has ever said that, or claimed that, including the Tasmanian Skills Institute and the Tasmanian Polytechnic.
- Drysdale has been un ravelling at an alarming rate since closure of Technical and Further Education at the end of 2008.
- Numerous incomptent Team Leaders are now in charge of various departments, since departure of Anne Ripper, things have fallen apart even further.
Numerous teachers had contracts end at the end of 2010...
So who is disadvantaged here?
INDUSTRY.
If you aren't going to run Drysdale properly, Fucking close it.
To those who cut off the hand that feeds them, I sincerely hope that you don't starve.
To those who are just excited about frozen fried fish, chips and ice-cream, I hope you don't get lonely.
You do nothing for tourism in this state and only contribute to the disappointment felt by overseas and interstate visitors when they experience Tasmania's poor hospitality offerings outside of Hobart & Launceston.
You may think you don't care because you're happy with your lot .... Just wait and see what happens.
It began unravelling as you say in 2008 because of a combination of factionalism and rationalization.
Since then, all the agitators on both sides have moved on. All of them are bitter and all feel they were the reason why Drysdale worked. Truth is that they all let their egos get in the way at the expense of cohesive work environment. The old case of too many chefs and hosp pple who all thought very highly of themselves. They were to concerned with staying in power at the college-thats why it had to change even if the pple remaining were not up to scratch. Just my 2 bits.
Is it worth noting that the owner of this site is a disgruntled ex Polytechnic employee?
Its worth noting that last anon is a goose! All ex polytechnic staff are disgruntled, shit current Polytechnic staff are disgruntled!
Is it worth noting that last anon might be an apologist for the shortcomings & ineptitude of the Polytechnic?
Au contraire, Anon 7.45. The author of this site is actually a proud ex-employee of the Polytechnic, and not at all disgruntled. I loved my time there (apart from a few hiccups), and gained much from the experience. But does this disqualify me from expressing an opinion? I don't think so.
It's because of a skills shortage in the sector. Nothing more than that. Underfunded by governments, poor working conditions, better jobs overseas - why would you stick around?
And it's not Drysdale making the decision. It's a Minister making the decision after years of neglect. Someone who is suddenly realising that tourism is going to be huge in the coming years, and we just don't have the staff to handle the increased demand.
And who really cares if they only undertake 12 months training? If they can do the same job after 12 months of training, then does it really matter? A certificate doesn't tell me if you can cook or not. Your performance in the kitchen does. Some of the best chefs I have ever met have had no institutionalised training...
The Group I am part of had a fundraising function at Drysdale last year and the food was disgusting. It was embarassing for us as we had asked people to support us. We wrote to Drysdale afterwards and they did not have the decency to reply to our letter.
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