Darlie Koshy to head vocational program for apparel sector

All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) has constituted

a committee under the chairmanship of Darlie Koshy, DG & CEO, Instituted of Apparel Management (IAM) and ATDC to develop level one to level seven courses on fashion marketing and management with HND, UK-type progression along with allied details for establishing vocational program for the apparel sector. “With world’s population ageing fast, it is estimated that by 2040, the average age of 65 and above is expected to reach 1.3 billion out of total world population. This trend is expected to result in acute labour shortage in many parts of the world, especially western countries. In India, due to world’s youngest population of around 550 million youth, we will find a distinct advantage. Indian population is also amongst largest English speaking population in the world and it will play a key role in building adaptive skilled workforce,” explains Koshy.

Current estimates indicate that two percent of the Indian workforce is formally skilled, while around 12.8 million workforce enroll every year with existing training capacities and the present infrastructure is only able to address a small proportion. Considering the present situation and need to build skilled capacities, AICTE decided to set up a committee to develop NVEQF for the apparel sector, which will help in building a long-term model to provide employability skills to the aspirants joining the apparel sector.