In a bid to enhance entrepreneurial skills in students, KISTEC tailoring students have embarked on marketing their products with an aim of generating income. Students are provided with materials, they come up with their own designs which they later sell to the public.
According to KISTEC Academic Registrar Mr. Mwinganiza Godfrey, the students are trained to make shirts, dresses, skirts, and other types of clothes. He added that the purpose for sending students to the market is to have a practical experience of what happens in the market, they improve on negotiation skills, customer care and also get feedback on the quality of their products.
The students get specific days and selected target markets where they take their products.
Godfrey said that in the next 5 years the institute intends to set up a textile factory dealing in the production of different African fashions made out of different fabrics.
The factory will be a hub for the latest fashions and designs made by our students. It will also provide employment to the students we train and also the surrounding community.
Said Mwinganiza
He however pointed out that this Institute only lacks enough tools like tailoring machines, knitting machines, finishing machines, and some inputs to use in the production cycle.
With the little resources we have, we are able to impact on the lives of many girls, women and youths and the results are promising. We are calling upon development partners to join in the struggle of skilling youths, women and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) so that they are able to sustain themselves.
He added
He added that they kind of support the institute needs both financial and tools. “You can support a student by paying fees for him/her, or you can support us with tools. One tailoring machine can impact on than 10 students per team. One laptop/Desktop can impact on more than 5 students per term.”, said Mwinganiza.
KISTEC has positioned itself to train and equip students with skills for self-reliance in Tailoring, Fashion and Design, Carpentry and Joinery, Brick-laying and concrete practice, Electrical Installation, Information and Communication Technology, among others.
