Getting your act together

KARACHI: Mesmerised by the colourful trends in the world of fashion, Nusrat had nursed the desire to become a fashion designer ever since she was a young girl. As her family was unable to financially support her aspiration to attend fashion school full-time, Nusrat discovered an alternative - a three-month technical entrepreneurship course at the Institute for Advancing Careers and Talents (iAct).

For Nusrat, the world has now become her oyster. While she feels that she has yet to enter the league of brands and fashion labels, she feels confident that she can now design for a large number of people who love clothes but cannot afford to spend too much on them. “Who knows? Maybe I will become really famous eventually,” she said.

iAct previously offered three-month long entrepreneurship programmes in designing, information technology, retail management and digital media. The institute also launched its supplementary entrepreneurship programme in Malir on Monday in collaboration with the Tameer Shell-live Wire Trust.

Two hundred students between the ages of 20 and 30 years will be trained to develop their careers in accordance with the growing demands of consumers and their eclectic tastes, while keeping technology, innovation and creativity in mind.

Students can participate in workshops and competitions that will be organised by iAct to teach entrepreneurship strategies, said training and monitoring manager Imran Azeem.

The programme is being sponsored by Inspiring Pakistani Youth to Reach Excellence (Inspyre) - a public-private partnership between the youth affairs department, the Sindh government and the Habib University Foundation (HUF) - under which, the education of 400 students at iAct will be funded.

Around 60 students will also be offered financial assistance to bring their ideas to life, a coordinator of the programme told The Express Tribune.

“The ministry is working towards the empowerment of youth,” said Sindh sports and youth affairs secretary Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, who added that the government is also trying to “revive the culture of sports” at schools.

iAct was established almost two years ago and focuses on the empowerment of the country’s youth that belongs to the middle class.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2010.