TESDA skills training program targets 100,000 women sari-sari retailers

A skills training program aimed at women sari-sari store owners will allow them access to microfinancing schemes and aims to hone their business ability so that they can sustain their enterprises. The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) estimates that its Sari Sari Store Training and Access to Resource Program (S3TAR), which will run until 2020, will reach at least 100,000 women across the country. According to TESDA Director General Joel Villanueva, technical experts and consultants will design a gender-sensitive, 12-week training course on basic business management, business improvement and micro-financing suitable for sari-sari retailers. “[W]e hope to be creative and get women excited about the potential for growth of the business they are tending,” Villanueva said. “The ultimate goal is to empower them with the right skills and know-how, introduce them to access to financial and other merchandising support and give them capability to grow their stores,” he added. The program will be rolled out at the regional, provincial and municipal levels. After the program, the participants will be subject to evaluation. “It is time to step up their training, connect them to like-minded entrepreneurs and increase their roles in the development of their communities,” Villanueva said. — BM, GMA News