Rose Group opens school for cosmetology, pharmacy

CEBU, Philippines - Along with its vision to help supplement the growth of its businesses, a Cebu-based conglomerate aims to address the demand for skilled pharmacy assistants and cosmetologists in the country by putting up an institute of beauty and pharmacy in Cebu.

The Rose Group of Companies, considered to be one of the fastest-growing Filipino-owned business conglomerates in the Visayas region, recently unveiled its newest subsidiary, the Rose Institute of Cosmetology and Pharmacy.

It is believed to be the first international institute for beauty and pharmacy studies in Cebu, offering short-term vocational courses in pharmacy associate, pharmacy services, hairdressing and beauty care.

Rose Institute of Cosmetology and Pharmacy president and chief executive officer Brian Benjamin Lim said that the company is challenged to employ skilled workers to work for them, thus limiting their plan of expanding their businesses further.

He added that the industry as a whole seems to be confronted with the same dilemma as most of the experienced practitioners tend to leave the country and work abroad.

“It makes it difficult for us to grow. Opening this institute could help address the demands of growing our businesses and strengthening the industries at the same time,” he said.

Lim assured that all graduates of Rose Institute are guaranteed to have a job in its affiliate companies such as Salon de Rose and Rose Pharmacy or since they are equipped with the necessary skills and confidence, they could opt to become entrepreneurs and start their own businesses.

At present, they have 214 Rose Pharmacy branches nationwide and 28 Salon de Rose outlets across the country. In Cebu, they have around 60 pharmacy branches and eight salon outlets.

Lim cited that they hire 50 hair stylists and beauticians for Salon de Rose every month while they employ around 100 workers for Rose Pharmacy in a month.

To date, Rose Pharmacy has employed more than 400 newly-hired applicants this year and expects to need 1,500 more new pharmacy assistants by next year. By 2015, they plan to have a total of 500 outlets nationwide.

“Our strongest expansion plans will take place within the next five years. We aim to double the number of our branches, expanding to seven outlets every year. The Rose Group of Companies employs around 4,000 people and we are continuously growing. We need a school like this to help support such growth,” he said.

The training programs of Rose Institute are duly accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

TESDA-7 Assistant Regional Director Buenafe Sta. Rita cited that the lack of skilled pharmacy aides and cosmetologists in the industry could be attributed to the lack of training schools in the country due to the expensive capital it requires to open one.

She said that in Cebu alone, there are only two existing training centers that offer vocational courses on pharmacy technician and beauty education.

Lim revealed that the company had an initial investment of P8 million for the Rose Institute facility.

With the growing need of training centers like Rose Institute, she then encouraged the private sector to open more technical and vocational schools in the country to support the increasing demand of skilled workers in the Philippine labor market.

The Rose Institute of Cosmetology and Pharmacy is supervised by school administrator Joey Rivamonte and assisted by Marilyn Polo who is the director of cosmetology and Eloisa Hernandez as the director of pharmacy.

The technical-vocational school is situated in a three-storey building owned by the business conglomerate along Colon Street.

The pharmacy associate degree which will be offered soon shall run for two years while the pharmacy service short course runs from three to six months. The courses for hairdressing and beauty care could take two weeks to two months of training.

Rose Institute already had 30 graduates for the hairdressing and beauty care programs and currently trains another 20 students. The pharmacy department, on the other hand, has eight trainees at present.

Lim added that they intend to develop the Cebu labor market for now before replicating the Rose Institute to other areas in the country.

He added that they expect an increase of enrolees in Rose Institute by 2016 taking into account the newly-implemented K to 12 basic educational program of the Department of Education.

The cosmetology department has three lecture rooms and two rooms intended for demonstrations on beauty and hair drying. Trainees are trained to practice their courses with consumable materials and equipment such as hair streamer, infrared sterilizer, hot cabinet, magnifying lamp, hair dryer, facial machine, spa machine and paraffin machine for hands-on training.

The pharmacy department, on the other hand, has seven classrooms that are divided into five lecture rooms, a simulation room and a learning resource center. /JOB (FREEMAN)