NIFT drafts courses on fashion for CBSE schools

With the demand for skilled manpower expected to rise substantially, the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) has designed a course on fashion to be conducted in schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

The Union ministry of textiles has set up a target of creating over 1.2 crore jobs in the textile sector in five years.

The government along with other bodies is planning to set up state-of-the art training institutes offering specialised courses in textiles.

"The ministry is keen on training manpower, which would provide impetus to the textile industry. We have announced several incentives and subsidy schemes for developing the required infrastructure for training manpower in the textile sector. NIFT has designed a course curriculum in fashion studies, which would be introduced by CBSE for 10th and 12th standards. Our ministry has also established the Sardar Vallabhai Patel Institute of Textile Management (SVPITM), a national level institute which is known for its textile related activities," said Shankarsinh Vaghela, Union textile minister, on Monday.

SVPITM offers a two-year post graduate course in textile management, an one-year post-graduate diploma in knitting and apparel industry management and various other need-based short-term courses.

The government of Gujarat has come up with a special incentive scheme for setting up apparel training institutes.

"In order to develop the apparel sector in the state, there is a need for trained and skilled man power at the grass root level and the state government has decided to set up training institutes in association with the Central government and the private sector. The government has announced a subsidy of Rs 2 crore to set up apparel training institutes. We have received encouraging response and four apparel training institutes are proposed in the state "" two in Ahmedabad and two in Surat," said Chandan Chatterjee, general manager, technology and projects, Industrial Extension Bureau (Indextb), a Gujarat government enterprise.

The Apparel Promotion Council has agreed to set up a training institute at the Surat Apparel Park. Another Bangalore-based institute is in talks with the state government to set up training centres in Ahmedabad and Surat.

The Gujarat government has also decided to provide employment to the rural sector by providing training. It has identified over 40 villages for this.

The district collectors will co-ordinate the training programmes. After training, the government will provide employment through the apparel parks.

On the sponsorship of Gujarat government, the Gandhinagar centre of NIFT has recently completed a cluster development project for the small scale readymade garment manufacturers of Ahmedabad.

The NIFT initiative has successfully addressed some problems of the clusters, and has opened new avenues for students through sustained development of craft cluster by integrating it with academic curriculum.