Apparel Training & Design Centre, India’s largest vocational training provider for apparel Industry, under the aegis of AEPC hosted the ATDC SKILL CONCLAVE with key panelists from Ministry of Textiles, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Directorate General of Employment & Training (DGET), National Skill Development Agency(NSDA), Planning Commission, AEPC and Apparel Industry to deliberate on the Importance of Skill Development in Shaping the Future of Apparel Sector: Perspectives, Challenges & Opportunities.
ATDC Skill Conclave, 2013 organized by the Apparel Training & Design Centre was held at Apparel House, Gurgaon. The Conclave started with the inaugural session by Opening address by Chief Guest Dr. K.S. Rao Hon’ble Union Minister of Textile, Government of India in presence of Ms. Zohra Chatterji, IAS Secretary (Textiles), Dr. A Sakthivel, Chairman, Apparel Export Promotional Council (AEPC), ATDC & IAM, Prof. SS Mantha, Chairman AICTE, Sh JP Rai, IAS, NSDA, Ms. Monika Garg, IAS, JS, MoT, Sh Shikhar Agarwal, IAS, DG, DGET, Dr. Renu S. Parmar, Adviser, Planning Commission, Sh Hari Kapoor, VC, ATDC & MD Allied Exports and Dr. Darlie Koshy, DG & CEO of ATDC and IAM.
While inaugurating the Conclave, Dr. K.S. Rao, Hon’ble Minister of Textile said, “Modernise or perish” need to become the motto of the apparel industry. I do hope that the ATDC Skill Conclave will throw up more ideas for the industry to adopt. I am happy to inaugurate the “ATDC Skill Conclave” and release the new AICTE & NCVT approved Curricula for Garment and Fashion sectors.”
Delivering the Welcoming note at the event, Chairman AEPC, Dr. A Sakthivel said “ATDC has set up 177 centres of ATDC-SMART in just about 2-3 years under ISDS of MOT, GOI with a built-up capacity to train over 45,000 candidates per year and has initiated new models for skill training in the country.”
He also said, “I am happy to mention that today is a major milestone in the area of Skill Development for Apparel Sector as two curricula documents which have been now adopted by the AICTE and the NCVT/DGET and are being released today at the hands of the Hon’ble Union Minister of Textiles.”
The ATDC Conclave witnessed a major landmark in the area of skill development for Apparel Sector with release of key course curricula documents, AICTE approved curricula for National Vocational Education Qualification Framework (NVEQF) system in Garment & Fashion Sector and National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) approved curricula for apparel & fashion sector under the two major Regulatory Bodies of Govt. of India, guiding the entire education and training sector.
Both the committees under the Chairmanship of Dr. Darlie Koshy, DG&CEO of ATDC&IAM have done exceptional work in a short time to prepare the curricula documents which have been adopted by the AICTE and the NCVT/DGET which are expected to transform the quality of skill development in the country. This is an important initiative responding to the changing requirements of the labour intensive apparel sector and addressing the current imperative need to develop skill based education system.
The second half of the event hosted an interesting interactive panel discussion wherein the panelists discussed & deliberated on the Integrated Skill Development Scheme; its impact, scaling up and benefits to the industry in meeting the acute skill deficit, models created by ATDC, socio-economic impact of the skill initiatives for women and disadvantaged sections of the society, role of mainstream education with long-term vocational programmes of 6 months/ 1 year and the relevance of the updated contemporary curricula, training of trainers’ ways to attract new investments in the sector, etc.
The Conclave witnessed presence of thought leaders, academician, students, garment manufacturers, influencers, eminent dignitaries and bureaucrats converge.
In order to create the right environment for skill development, it should start from the grass root level. The event signed off on the note for the sector; stating urgency for Training and Upgradation requirement in order to become more organized to nurture the potential of the apparel sector.
Prior to the ATDC Skill Conclave the Hon’ble Union Minister Textiles Dr. K.S. Rao visited ATDC National Head office which houses a typical large State-of-the-Art ATDC Training Centre which has over 50 State-of-Art machines which can train at least 45-50 people at a time in 7-8 cycles in a year & an ATDC-Juki Tech Innovation Centre for showcasing latest technologies can be brought about to encourage the apparel industry to modernise.
A week long ATDC Rozgar Mela was also organised in the same premises which was attended by over 11 reputed export and domestic apparel manufacturers and was lively with over 200 ATDC trained candidates seeking employment. The Hon’ble Union Minister encouraged the candidates by handing over appointment letters to the selected candidates.
During the Conclave, Dr. Darlie Koshy, explained “In the case of AICTE, the streams for which curricula have been developed are for Fashion Design, Textile Design, Apparel Manufacturing and Fashion Management which have taken into consideration the dynamic manufacturing and marketing environment.
"As far as NCVT is concerned, the new curricula have recast the earlier MES curricula for garment and fashion sectors by incorporating the industry needs and employability criteria.” Expressing optimism Dr. Darlie Koshy mentioned “This important step of structuring of nationwide curricula will go a long way in opening more opportunities forlateral and vertical mobility of candidates and certification systems thus building up a ‘skilled workforce’ for improving productivity and efficiency of the sector.”
