FEATURE
IT IS NOT JUST THE GOVERNMENT
SECTOR THAT IS RISING UP. THE
PRIVATE SECTOR, TOO, IS TAPPING
INTO THE HUGE TALENT POOL
THAT IS BUILDING UP IN THE
COUNTRY.
and Andhra Pradesh, and skill development
centres across nine states. In the 14 years since
it was set up, the university has made over 1.5
lakh students job-ready in various vocations,
including manufacturing, apparel, and textiles,
among others. CUTM is now aiming to train
around 50,000 students annually, mostly under
government-funded programmes such as Deen
Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana,
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, and state
skill development missions (in Jharkand, Uttar
Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Meghalaya) under
these vocations collectively. Besides industry-
supported programmes, it has also funded
students who are opting for B.Voc programmes.
“We are taking students from remote areas
and putting them out there. Today, I have many
more jobs than students: there are jobs in
industrial belts and across cities. We manage
placements with migration support centres (aided
by International Labour Organization),” says
Abhinav Madan, director of CUTM’s School of
Vocational Education and Training, and Managing
Director of Gram Tarang, a government-funded
42
I APPAREL I
June 2019
entrepreneurship outreach programme, in an
interview with Outlook magazine.
Pearl Academy, another leading private
player offering courses in design and fashion, is
gradually expanding across the country. They
have, in fact, recently set up their fifth campus
in Bengaluru, the other four being in Delhi,
Jaipur, Mumbai, and Noida. Additionally, the
academy has also tied up with Global University
Systems (GUS), an international network of
higher education institutes. Its students will now
have improved access to global opportunities
and exposure through initiatives including
exchange programs, professional development
courses, knowledge sharing forums, collaborative
research projects, access to prominent seminars
and conferences, etc., as part of their holistic
educational development.
Speaking about the tie-up to EdEx Live,
Nandita Abraham, President, Pearl Academy,
mentioned, “At Pearl, we understand the
importance of global exposure and experience
in today’s world and hence have partnered with
some of the most prominent universities and
institutes across the world. We look forward to
this collaboration with GUS, and are confident
that this partnership will enrich our students’
learning experiences and equip them further to
take up global challenges.”
It is not just the Government sector that is
rising up; the private sector, too, is tapping into
the huge talent pool that is building up in the
country. There is also a plethora of opportunities
for private and public sector players to come
together and create an ecosystem of skilling and
reskilling that ensures an ongoing improvement
programme for the vast workforce of the industry,
thus eventually benefitting the second largest
contributing sector to the country’s economy.