As education funding and access to jobs becomes an increasing challenge for South Africa’s youth, the Shoprite Group is offering bright, hard-working young people who need financial support a chance to become part of its bursary programme.
There are 33 students in the Eastern Cape who are currently Shoprite bursary holders and, once they have completed their studies, they will be given the chance to join the nearly 10 000 people already employed by the group in this province.
Candidates could qualify for a bursary of up to R70 000 – depending on the course of study and institution – to assist with tuition, books and accommodation.
Each bursary is linked to a work-back agreement with the Group, giving students the boost they need to kick-start a great career, with guaranteed employment once they graduate.
Grace Kachoko, who has a bursary to study Pharmacy at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, says, “It’s not just financial support that helps. I am now guaranteed a job at MediRite. Shoprite knows how to show they care about their people.”
The Group’s bursaries are offered to matriculants applying to higher education institutions in South Africa as well as to students currently completing tertiary qualifications in programmes such as pharmacy, chartered accounting, logistics, IT and retail business management.
“Shoprite is very supportive,” says Wanda Panya, a bursary holder and first-year BPharm student at Rhodes University. “They regularly call and check up on me so I would definitely recommend the bursary programme to others as it’s the best option in the country.”
As South Africa’s largest private sector employer, Shoprite is focused on creating jobs for the country’s youth. In spite of the unemployment rate being at 58%, the highest in 14 years, Shoprite created 6 027 new jobs in the past year, 91% of which were filled by people aged 34 and under.
Applications for a bursary for the 2018 academic year are now open. Apply at: http://bit.ly/2vY2X9f
