Graduates awarded degrees at 17th Convocation
Mr. Anand Sharma, Union Minister of Commerce, Industry & Textiles, has asked fresh graduates of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) to embrace the traditional knowledge of design in their work and keep their connect with ethics and ethos alive.
“Our country is a rich nation in terms of tradition and old practices of design. The NIFT students and faculty have to adopt and take this forward as a responsibility”, he said at the 17th Convocation ceremony at NIFT.
The Minister congratulated NIFT on its completing 25 years and awarded Degrees for the fresh batch of graduates and post-graduates of 2011 at the Convocation ceremony. The Board of Governors of NIFT and experts from the industry were also present on the occasion.
Mr. Sharma said that the Indian fashion industry is still evolving, but surely it has made its mark. “It has been a long journey, and the need is to keep creating hopes and harvesting dreams”. He lauded the NIFT efforts in preserving and propagating the traditional arts and crafts of India at both the local and regional levels.
Ms. Monika S. Garg, Director General of NIFT, in her address, said: “NIFT is committed to creating and maintaining an environment that promises an approach of knowledge transfer. Here the academic strategy embraces internationalism and facilitates an invigorating thought-process which is multi-disciplinary and dynamic.”
She disclosed that this year, in the presence of the Prime Ministers of both the countries at Dhaka, NIFT entered into an association with the BGMEA Institute of Fashion Technology, Bangladesh, for collaboration in areas based on building specific professional competencies. “We are confident that this endeavour will identify placement and job opportunities for NIFTians in Bangladesh. The institute this year has enhanced the international visibility and standing. NIFT has entered into a strategic alliance with the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, in the form of Dual Degree. Our strategy seeks to realize the opportunities to find the better placement options for the students in India and overseas”.
NIFT has 15 centers in India. Since 1987 it has produced designers and fashion entrepreneurs who have shaped the Indian fashion industry into a global leader.
The Director General also said that over the last few years NIFT has undertaken strategic steps to forge international linkages with international schools of repute. Currently, it has over 30 MoUs with foreign fashion schools for student & faculty exchange, conferences, seminars and exhibitions. In 2011, the existing MoUs were reviewed, and four new ones were signed with the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, the BGMEA Institute of Fashion Technology, Bangladesh, the University of Wolverhampton, UK, and the Royal Academy of Arts, the Hague.
NIFT has also entered into an MoU with the Textile Committee to increase the knowledge base of its faculty, students and research scholars. As part of this agreement, facilities like library, publications, laboratories, etc., are made available by the Textile Committee to NIFT for research purposes.
Ms. Monika Garg presenting the annual Academic Report, recounted the journey of NIFT through expansion, extension and benchmarking in fashion education.
As per the NIFT policy, after completion of four years the complete curriculum is reviewed incorporating views from industry and alumni. Accordingly, an elaborate and intensive exercise of peer and industry review of the curriculum of their respective departments was carried out by the Chairpersons in January 2011.
Two-day workshops were organized for each discipline in NIFT Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Gandhinagar, in which peer institutes, industry members and NIFT alumni and faculty participated. The focus was on dynamic and emerging needs of the industry and future trends. The new curriculum has been implemented with effect from July 2011 onwards.
Built into the academic curriculum are internship, industry visits, out-bound programmes as well as real life projects, seminars and interactions which provide opportunities for students to appreciate and understand the working of the industry. The institute also undertakes research and consultancy projects for the industry with its expertise in Design, Management and Technology at strategic and operational levels. The students get the opportunity to work in stimulating environment with industry projects focusing on integrative abilities that use skills ranging from technical expertise to creative exposure.
As an attempt to inculcate social awareness, the Craft Cluster Project has been woven into the Academic Calendar. Understanding the social responsibility towards this sector, the NIFT students continue to contribute to the clusters through design intervention and product diversification.
In all, 1,492 graduates from 10 streams of study and from nine centers of NIFT were awarded Degrees.
Mr. Venu Srinivasan, Chairman, Board of Governors of NIFT, in his brief address, congratulated the graduating students.