Thrust on education, training needed now, more than ever

Indeed, the segments like fashion technology, garment manufacturing, textile engineering etc. having proper courses also need to improve in terms of industry involvement. Our industry is changing rapidly and to keep harmony more industry interaction with educational institutes is very much required

In the last few days, two major steps have been taken regarding to education and both are quite interesting and in-fact need of the hour. First, the University Grants Commission unveiled draft legislation that seeks to facilitate the entry and operation of overseas institutions in the country. Hopefully, we will soon see a law in this regard.

Secondly, the government issued guidelines for the technical textiles degree programme in UG and PG courses and announced internships support for technical textiles. Not only the governmental, but even the private institutes will get support for the courses in technical textiles.

Interestingly, our Ministry of Textiles intends to develop an eco-system in technical textiles not only in the textile field, but other disciplines of engineering like civil, mechanical, electronics etc., agriculture institutes, medical colleges, and fashion institutes.

Earlier a demonstration centre for Agrotech (agro textiles) at Navsari Agricultural University is also being set up to show the advantages of using agro-textiles. This is in line with the Prime Minister's vision of doubling farmers' income.

All such steps at various levels will help young talent to be more qualified and expert in their core areas. As India's textile industry is growing and expansion is required to achieve the massive export target and growing demand in the Indian market need plenty of young talent. And niche segment like technical textile is almost missing proper education which can add value to this emerging industry. Isn't it that our industry and stakeholders need to have more thrust on education and training in this segment?

Indeed, the segments like fashion technology, garment manufacturing, textile engineering etc. having proper courses also need to improve in terms of industry involvement. Our industry is changing rapidly and to keep harmony more industry interaction with educational institutes is very much required. Apart from a few expectations, students and faculties of various colleges don't have any connection with the industry. And this creates challenges for the students when they enter in the industry and also hurt the industry. So, need is to have such a system that continuously has proper interaction and knowledge sharing so institutes can understand all the development and implementation in their daily learning while the industry can utilise the strengths of institutes. There are a few companies that have a regular visit of students not only from the fashion and textile institutes, but also from management and other colleges also. All this helps to attract young talent into these kinds of companies as the students get impressed by the companies' working and culture. So overall steps need to strengthen the education and training for the textile and fashion industry.

Beyond that, mutual coordination and more interaction on a regular, frequent basis is needed to grow as much as it can. All this need to happen at all levels, all kinds of colleges and factories. The paid internship can be also a good option as internships are not giving results as per the potential of the talent and its exposure to the industry.

There is a Sector Skill Councils (SSC) set up by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) as autonomous industry-led bodies and they have good networks and resources at the ground level. Their help can be instrumental in such activities to have a better correlation with the industry and the trainees. New initiatives at their level can connect the stakeholders of the supply chain at the grass route level to bring effective results. They should continue to develop qualifications for the job role as per the changing requirement of the industry in the future, especially in the areas where chances are there for good demand.

Following all the best efforts to have the best coordination and a strong focus on courses, training with the futuristic approach will add a lot of value to the industry. Especially at this moment when unlearning, relearning is also the focus and there are endless opportunities in textile and garment industry.

(The author owns a garment manufacturing setup in a rural area, which employs mostly women workers)