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Wang Huiping, 23, is now an intern baker at one of Shanghai’s top hotels along the Bund. Wang spends his afternoons preparing snacks for the hotel’s afternoon tea sets while a master baker watches on. Wang joined the “Shanghai Young Bakers” program last August and will graduate later this month. She says learning baking skills hasn’t been easy, but it will help her earn a better living.

“I could hardly cut a piece of cake at the very beginning. I was whiny. By the program, especially my internship here, has helped me improved a lot. I will graduate soon and I would like to become a baker,” she said.

One of the top bakers at the hotel says Wang has demonstrated her potential to be successful.

“She devotes herself to the bakery, and her cooperation with our international team is good. We need young bakers like this,” said Zhou Zhihong of the Peninsula Hotel.

Students like Wang first spend eight months in the classroom learning basic baking skills.

They aren’t paid during that time, but the program provides them with room and board. They then do a four-month internship, which includes a small salary. The program is open to students between the ages of 17 and 23 who are struggling to lead independent lives. Most of them are migrants with few job skills. “They taught us a lot of baking skills. I had never imagined that I could be a baker,” said Lei Yaowen.

“The classes are over. It’s incredible that I have become a baker. I used to be a poor kid. I am longing for my future. I want to have a good job,” said Zhang Gaopeng.

The program trains 20 to 35 students a year, and 80 percent of the graduates have found jobs in the field. Employers include large hotels and expat-run bakeries.

“We are looking, for our bakery, French bakery. We are looking for new, some staff, because we want to develop more the business. And then we need new staff. I know the association from maybe last year, and I had an awesome time in the relation with them, to find new staff for us,” said Eric Durand.

The program was founded in 2009 by a group of French people in town, and now gets some support from the French consulate and businesses in Shanghai. Some offer cash, others provide baking ingredients.

“Now from this very small project, we have our own bakery center. We have our own teachers which are our former students from the first promotion that we sent to France. We are trying to bring the program with something more like a social enterprise, not just a small charity training, but social enterprise,” said program manager Cecile Cavoizy.

To date, 74 students have graduated from the program, and organizers say they want to continue to expand it to help more youngsters develop real job skills.