Thu Dec 01 07:49:00 UTC 2011
In an effort to contribute to the development of scarce skills in South Africa and the country’s retail sector, as well as to support the continuous expansion of its financial departments, stores and pharmacies, the Shoprite Group of Companies this year made more than R13.1 million available to expand its bursary program and student training initiatives.
The Group employs more than 95 000 people and has been providing bursaries to students for more than 15 years, especially in the fields of Pharmacy, Retail Business Management and Accounting (CA route). During this time it has made approximately 1200 bursaries available, not only in South Africa but also in countries such as Nigeria, Zambia, Namibia and Angola. Since 1995, the Group’s bursary program has grown from 41 active bursaries per year to 267 active bursaries provided to students in 2011.
The program involves full study bursaries of between R 35 000 and R 50 000 per year (depending on the study area), and vacation work. As part of the bursary agreement, bursary holders are employed after successfully completing their studies, and in this way they are assured of a permanent job in one of the most stable organisations in Africa.
For study areas that require practical internships, bursary holders also do not need to look for additional training opportunities elsewhere upon completion of their studies, as the Shoprite Group offers career-specific training to bursary holders. For example, pharmacy students are placed in one of the Group’s 128 pharmacies in order to complete their internships, and accounting (CA route) students are placed as articles clerks in the Group’s SAICA approved CA training program. Retail students are placed on a trainee management program to prepare them for becoming store managers.
The Shoprite Group plans on increasing the available funding for bursaries to an estimated value of more than R 15 million in 2012.
The Group is currently also recruiting bursary candidates in the areas of Information Technology, Logistics and other fields relevant to the organisation and the retail industry.
For more information on the bursaries or to apply, kindly contact Jacques Pienaar on 021-980-4671, or bursary@shoprite.co.za.