considering that the 4 billion garments and apparel industry of bangladesh account for nearly 70 per cent of the countrys total export earnings it comes as a surprise that the country has just one fullfledged fashion technology institute the bgmea institute of fashion technology bift run by bangladesh garment manufacturers and exporters association bgmea the bift was launched in 1999 to equip local manpower with the latest technology in the garment industry at present the institute has nearly 800 students on its rolls according to the bift president md sirajulhaq the fashion textile industry in bangladesh is at a very nascent stage and currently works only on cmt cut make and trim approach the industry outsources textile technologists and skilled labour from korea sri lanka and india added sheena m falconer principal bift skilled manpower is crucial for the growth of valueadded production branding and expansion of the industry having realised this need the bift is pushing forward for higher education in fashion design and technology in the country both haq and falconer were recently in delhi to finalise an agreement on technical assistance with the pearl academy of fashion paf according to the mou signed by both the institutes the paf will assist the bift in faculty training course curriculum development and upgrade its current sixmonth postgraduate programmes to oneyear programmes falconer said tieup with the paf will help the institute to integrate management with technology and thus provide a holistic approach to the students a delegation of four bift teachers participated in a onemonth training at the paf the sessions included three segments namely pedagogy or the art of teaching subject training or enhancing domain knowledge and systems training including the evaluation process the teachers were also familiarised with the course curriculum said the paf executive director a k g nair the paf is committed in joining hands with international institutes to take activities of mutual benefit we will also consider studentexchange programmes at a later stage md salahudding ahmed one of the participant teachers revealed that bangladeshs garment industry outsources 4000 engineers and technologists from india and sri lanka because of the shortage in their own country hussain ahmed bhuiyan another participant said right training and skills will not only make us selfreliant but significantly increase productivity and export levels ahmed added that fashion designing as a career has influenced the bangladeshi youth and the bift is catering to that segment as well reflecting emotionally on the biftpaf collaboration s m arif raza course coordinator bift remarked india helped us attain political freedom in 1971 now the country is aiding us towards economic independence