Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International School of Textiles & Management (SVPISTM) in Coimbatore is a national-level autonomous institution providing comprehensive education, training, consultancy and research in textiles and management. Established by the Ministry of Textiles to cater to the long-felt need for management courses in textiles in 2002, the institute is a unique and premier one offering both textile technology and management integrated courses. It is progressing in a phased manner with the mandate of becoming India’s only “Textile University” by 2017.
In an exclusive interview to The Textile Magazine, Dr. C. Rameshkumar, Director, SVPISTM, speaks about his mission of starting such an institute and his future vision. He says, “We aim to impart vibrant, comprehensive and innovative learning to our students to enable them to be managers, entrepreneurs and leaders with strong cultural values and provide an ambience to develop their skills to meet the challenges of the global business environment. We also wish to emerge as an internationally renowned Centre of Excellence in Textile Management Education.”
Being a unique institution with autonomous status helps it to have academic freedom in designing syllabus according to the industry requirements. Transition in the textile industry with huge expansion needs the best management brains with technical synergy. With changing time frame, the institute has been taking pro-active steps to adapt itself to the changing dynamics of the textiles sector. Latest technologies are employed for effective delivery, and the curriculum emphasizes practice orientation, in the areas of research, consultancy, executive development and knowledge management. Recently the institute has emerged as a centre for innovation, incubation and entrepreneurship to help innovators in successfully commercializing their innovation through an enterprise.
Courses offered
SVPISTM offers AICTE-approved post-graduate course in Textile Management, Apparel Management and Retail Management. Since inception, 774 students have passed out from the institute from various courses.
Dr. Rameshkumar says: “The present student’s community wishes to be employed in white-collar jobs. Still a person with right attitude and specifically designed skill set can be employed with a lucrative salary in various sectors of the textile industry. This factor has been clearly substantiated by many of our passed out students.”
The institute has signed MoUs with national associations like SASMIRA, BTRA, IJIRA, MANTRA and TEA and international universities like Technical University of Liberec, Czechoslovakia, and Saxion University, Netherlands. It expands its international initiatives by signing MoU in the area of students and faculty exchange programs, conducting collaborative research and seminars, sharing of research information and executive training.
Additionally the “Summer Schools” concept is being worked out under which students of SVPISTM would be sent to international universities for a short period of three months to study various aspects of Textile Technology Management, case analysis, team work skills, strategic innovation, operational excellence, etc.
The placement cell of the institute acts as a crucial interface between the stages of completion of academic program of the students and their entry into suitable and prospective employment. The training and placement service provided by it operates round the year to facilitate contacts between corporates and graduates.
Library and Information Centre
SVPISTM has a well-equipped library with a large collection of world-class books on textile and management-oriented subjects. The WEBOPAC facility is available for browsing all the database of the library. It also has a good collection of audio and video cassettes, CDROM, conference proceedings and project reports.
This centre which started functioning since inception of the institute has now a modern multi-media computer laboratory with LAN configuration with free access for students. They are encouraged to operate the computers extensively for their project work and assignments.
A Nodal Centre for Upgradation of Textile Education (NCUTE) was set up with the broad objective of enhancing textile education through teacher training to meet the challenges of emerging technology and to reform textile education. In this regard, the institute conducts one-day seminars on designing and developing textile education across the country.
The New Entrepreneurs and Enterprise Development Scheme (NEEDS) started at SVPISTM on June 2 last. It is a 25-day training programme formulated by the Tamil Nadu Government to assist the educated youth to become first generation entrepreneurs. The Entrepreneurship Development Institute, Chennai, has identified SVPISTM as the program implementing agent (PIA) to conduct the NEEDS training program. Around 70 young and first generation potential entrepreneurs from Coimbatore, Salem and Vellore districts are trained in various topics such as entrepreneurial skills, business opportunity and idea generation, business laws, regulations, etc.