Textile and clothing institution underused
Isaac Pinielo | Wednesday August 2, 2017 16:22
TCIB founder, Mohammad Ghafoor said the reason for this is that the Department of Tertiary Education Financing (DTEF) stopped sponsoring students to study for certificate courses.
Accredited by the Botswana Qualifications Authority (BQA), he said the institution currently offers one-year certificate courses in cutting, embroidery, sewing, garment assembly, design and pattern making, commercial sewing skills and clothing manufacture.
“Unfortunately, we were told that students who want to enrol for these courses cannot be sponsored,” he said. According to Ghafoor, this has led to the institution, which has the capacity to enrol 300 students, not being used as much as it could be.
With five classrooms, two training halls, a workshop area with more than 50 textile and clothing production machines and a media centre developing and issuing training materials, the TCIB has been lying idle since its inception.
As a result, Ghafoor said TCIB is compelled to re-register for diploma qualifications, adding that they have since submitted applications seeking to be re-accredited for diploma courses. However, he noted that they are faced with challenges since the registrations fees for diploma qualifications have gone high. “We appeal to government to come up with payment terms that can allow us to get registered with ease,” he said. Ghafoor said with the shortage of skills having a negative impact on the textiles and clothing sector, TCIB is ideally placed to offer programmes that are designed by clothing industry professionals to up-skill candidates with knowledge for them to thrive in the industry.
He said TCIB has the potential to rekindle opportunities for local clothing manufacturers to export their products under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). He further stated that the institution would also help to sustain the employment of many skilled workers who are presently lacking, and have been hampering the country’s wishes of developing the textile industry so that it can end up exporting to the US through AGOA.
He is adamant that if given support, TCIB will be a renowned training and technical service provider to cater for the growth and needs of the textile and clothing industry.