Textile Learning Factory

The Dow Skills Development Centre (DSDC) has a rich history of promoting vocational education and skill development for underprivileged individuals, especially women and young girls. Established in 2010, the DSDC Stitching Unit has been pivotal in transforming lives by offering valuable vocational training to empower communities in and around the DUHS Ojha Campus area.

Initially, the DSDC Textile Unit offered various basic vocational courses such as basic dressmaking, advanced dressmaking, fabric painting, fashion designing, sewing, and stitching designing. The Stitching unit, a core component of DSDC, served as a haven for aspiring textile enthusiasts to acquire essential skills and knowledge. Many young girls from low-income households found a promising path toward employment and entrepreneurship through this initiative.

However, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic brought unforeseen challenges, leading to the suspension of all textile-based programs.

In December 2022, DSDC collaborated with Blossom Home Textiles to refurbish and restart operations, this time with a more sustainable model to prevent future shutdowns. The Stitching Unit at DSDC was revived as a “Stitching and Tailoring Learning Factory” for disadvantaged women & girls, a joint venture operating as a social enterprise, providing learning, training, and job placement. Working with an established Industry Partner ensures that the training curriculum aligns with market requirements and builds the right employability skills.

Blossom Home Textiles donated all required modern equipment and tools and continues to provide technical expertise to ensure the project’s success. With the Vice Chancellor DUHS’ approval, orders for all textile-related requirements, such as lab coats, scrubs, patient gowns, and uniforms, are now placed at the Textile Learning Factory, turning TLF into one of the safest and most productive job centers in the district, providing employment as well as lucrative self-employment opportunities to trainees. Thus, we are playing a small role towards SDGs 4 (Quality Education), 5 (Gender Equality), and 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). The TLF not only provides employment and self-employment opportunities but also promotes quality education and gender equality.

• To operate as a self-sustaining vocational training unit simulating a real factory environment to provide marginalized women & young girls hands-on training required to create a finished product from the start, conduct industry-led projects, and earn income.
• To ensure an industry-aligned curriculum that imparts market-relevant employability skills.
• To function as a job center for underprivileged women and young girls, supported by DUHS and partners.
• Fulfill the stitching needs of DUHS & other sustainability clientele at low cost.
• Employ new technologies, machinery, and skills to innovate and bring improvements necessary for producing higher-quality textile products.

DSDC-TLF’s primary purpose, with the re-establishment of the Stitching & Tailoring Unit, is to reignite the spirit of empowerment and opportunity for women and young girls from marginalized backgrounds. By reviving this essential component of the DSDC, TLF aims to provide: