NIFT to run continuing education programmes

Providing an opportunity to students pursuing various kinds of degrees, and working professionals who are keen on acquiring skills in design, the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in Gandhinagar is all set to commence its Continuing Education (CE) programmes. These will be conducted in the evenings, beginning from August.While CE programmes have been conducted by NIFT Gandhinagar previously as well, the institute will introduce a new one-year programme this year, called 'Jewellery Design and Handcraft'. Speaking on the significance of this programme, which has been conceived by the institute themselves, NIFT faculty and the course's coordinator Ranjeet Kumar, said, "The programme is a unique one. It will be conducted for the first time, only in NIFT Gandhinagar this year."He said, "Through the programme, the participants will be taught designing and manufacturing techniques of jewellery, so that on completion of the course, they can either initiate their own enterprises, or pursue careers such as jewellery designing, merchandising, product developing and so on."Speaking on other aspects of the course, Kumar said, "While the training of the 40 participants of the course will be done in the institute's state-of-the-art laboratory sponsored by the industry commissioner of the government of Gujarat, they will also be exposed to areas like fashion trend forecast interpretation." Kumar said the students will also be provided placement assistance at the end of the course.NIFT Gandhinagar will also offer five other programmes, which were offered in previous years as well. These include fashion and clothing technology, fashion integration for apparel industry, fashion retail management, garment export merchandising management, garment production technology and apparel design. Depending upon the type of programme, the eligibility criteria varies from 10+2 in any discipline, to being graduates.The director of NIFT Gandhinagar, Sameeta Rajora, said, "NIFT's CE programmes are very popular and we see good response every year. The programmes enable the students to travel overseas after completion of the course."