Retail store takes shopping to class

ONE of Africa’s largest retailers, Shoprite, is tackling the skills shortage in South Africa head-on.

Government s mandate for the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector to increase the number of students by four million by the year 2030 requires innovative thinking and the support of the private sector.

The retail group’s marketing director, Neil Schreuder, says Shoprite is dedicated to the development and upliftment of its entire workforce and the unemployed young people in the country.

Apart from the various education and training projects, Shoprite has created an integrated solution for skills development in cooperation with the Northlink TVET College in the Western Cape by establishing the first retailer stimulation store at the college’s Parow campus.

The simulation store will assist with the work-integrated learning component of the college’s vocational and occupational curricula that have a retail focus or specialisation.

The simulation store is a mini-supermarket with service departments and is stocked with merchandise, in a learning-friendly environment,” says Schreuder.

It will provide learners with the necessary exposure and practical experience in retail operations to complete their vocational retail training.”

A further benefit for learners is that the work-based experience enhances their employability, but the experience gained is also to the advantage of the whole retail sector as it broadens the pool of employees who have an aptitude and passion for retail,” says Schreuder.

The simulation enterprise is sponsored by the retailer and is the group’s first partnership with a TVET institution.

The work-based training opportunities it presents are in support of the TVET sector’s plan to offer vocational and occupational qualifications from level two to four (matric equivalent) with a retail specialisation.

The industry anticipates a retail vocational programme will commence in 2016.

Initially, the focus will be on establishing simulation stores at Western Cape TVET institutions, with the long-term vision to roll them out nationally.

According to Statistics SA’s latest labour force data, the unemployment rate in the 15 to 24 years age group is 65,4%.

This is higher than the unemployment rate of 25,4%, according to Statistics SA’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey; Quarter 3, for July to September 2014.