The institute’s director, Mr Pramod Maheshwari, is in talks with TAFE, SA, an arm of the Government of South Australia and one of the largest providers of business and industry training in that country. The alliance under discussion is being structured by ShepardInternational, an Adelaide-based strategy consultant.

Representatives of TAFE and Shepard will be visiting Career Point in November this year to finalise the arrangement, Mr Maheshwari told Business Line today. He said initially 250 students will be enrolled at the Kota-based institute for a 12-week course. By expanding its coaching network across India subsequently, the institute is targeting to train 5,000 youth annually, for fees ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000 for the four proposed four certificate courses in retail sales, supervision, management. The students will get training in customer service and selling, inventory and merchandising, loss prevention and safety, people management and information analysis. Besides, the institute is also in talks with retail chains for on-the-job training.

He said all Australian universities recognise TAFE’s qualifications. After agriculture, retailing has emerged as the largest employer with seven per cent of total work force in India with a contribution of 14 per cent to the national GDP. In 2004, the size of Indian organised retail industry was Rs 28,000 crore, growing at an estimated rate of 25-30 per cent. By 2010, it is estimated to reach Rs 1 lakh crore, he said.

The retail sector would need more than 2.2 million professionals . However, 80 per cent of job-seekers registered with employment exchanges in India are without any professional skills. Due to this shortage , most of the organised sector in the country is facing a crunch of skilled manpower. Career Point seeks to fill this gap through its vocational courses, particularly in retail management, Mr Maheshwari said.

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