Dual education programs The ”Vocational and educational school” project started in 2017, when, together with other actors of the business environment, we laid the foundations for the first dual education program in Romania based on the German model, in partnership with eight high schools in the country. Thus, we offer students who study in the dual system the opportunity to practice in our stores, obtaining at the end an internationally valid diploma specializing in merchant-seller. The program has many benefits for the students enrolled: z three years of training by a coach who guides them and provides them with moral support z monthly scholarship of Ron 200 z meal in the amount of Ron 15 provided during the apprenticeship z transport provided from the address indicated to the apprenticeship site and back z international vocational certification z the possibility to be employed in our stores right after the graduation At the completion of courses, the students receive an internationally recognised diploma of merchant-seller, and the opportunity to become our colleague. The year 2021 represented the 4th year of the project, in which we recorded: z 93 students enrolled in the dual education program (59 promoted from the generations 2 and 3, and 34 enrolled from the 36 selected) z 8 Romanian cities: Iași, Cluj, Constanta, Bucharest, Brașov, Sibiu, Buftea, Timișoara z 1 store in each city for physical practice and 85% online practice given the pandemic situation z 8 main mentors and 8 secondary mentors; in each store there are two persons trained to guide the pupils’ activity Initial number of pupils Number of pupils 2021 Retention Generation II – 2018 39 27 69% Generation III – 2019 46 32 70% Generation IV – 2020 36 34 94% Total 121 93 I want to attend the 9th grade Since 2017, together with the World Vision Romania association, we have been implementing the ”I want in 9th grade” program, through which we offer support in the form of monthly scholarships and internship/employment opportunities for 100 students from 38 rural communities in 3 high schools, from the counties: Dolj, Ialomița and Vaslui. The PENNY support mainly involved the provision of amonthly stipendworth 150 lei covering the following elements: supplies and textbooks, monthly socialization workshops, critical thinking, entrepreneurship and vocational workshops, individual counselling and individualized support, including budget management . The results recorded in the project show how much a real and personalized investment in their education matters for improving the school performance of rural children. 81 youngpeoplehavegraduated theprogramme, and twoof themhavebeenemployed by PENNY. We are here for the children Through our partnership with the Save the Children Romania Organization, we fight to prevent school dropouts and combat social inequalities in rural areas and beyond. In 2021 we initiated the ”Put an extra portion on the table” campaign and contributed through our services to meet the basic need of any child – a daily hot meal. Thus, we redirected part of the income from the casseroles sold in our stores to provide a hot meal for 2 months for 100 children who are part of the educational centres of the Save the Children Organization in Timișoara. Through this campaign we are trying to support children at risk of poverty or social exclusion. In 2020, 36.3% of children in Romania were in this situation, a percentage that increased by 2% compared to the previous year. At the end of the 2020-2021 school year, wewere able to hire only one person, with the rest of the graduates remaining in our database for further recruitment. CONTENT ABOUT PENNY SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY SUSTAINABILITY STEP BY STEP SUSTAINABLE ASSORTMENT ENERGY, CLIMATE AND RESOURCES EMPLOYEES AND SOCIETY REPORT ASSURANCE GRI & SASB INDEX
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