PAF focuses on new trends

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-weight:="" bold="">Can you focus on your new courses in spa and beauty therapies?</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">As fashion is a way of life, a lot of activities hitherto unknown in the conventional fashion world are becoming part of the everchanging fashion scene.These changes inevitably mean that education and training standards will have to be created anew, so as to provide comprehensive learning to those who have a stake in these changes. To keep pace with them, the PAF has introduced short-term training modules in spa and beauty therapies. These programmes are meant for those who want to learn the nitty gritty of this upcoming sector as well as for those who want to set up their own ventures or are already doing that, but need to hone their knowledge base. We will be awarding certificates to successful candidates after the completion of these modules. Another area that we plan to get into is ''consultancy'' in this new area.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-weight:="" bold="">What kind of employment opportunities will be available for students who pursue these courses?</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">Tourism offers immense scope for employment, after one is trained in spa and beauty therapies. Worldwide the spa and beauty therapy business is a big money spinner and is giving a tremendous boost to tourism. In India, however, we need to offer special packages to the foreign and local tourists and this will mean that these services should incorporate traditional Indian elements such as ''Ayurveda'', Kerala oil massages, among other techniques. Not only this, the industry will require many specialists trained in body massage, oil therapy, beauty therapy, skin therapy to name a few, which will open many doors to opportunity for the aspiring youngsters. And another area that the youth can look forward to is entrepreneurship, wherein they can offer their own services in ''spa and beauty''.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">We have already taken the lead among the fashion institutions in India to offer these courses and hope to ''improvise'' them further, with the passage of time, to suit the needs of the tourism industry.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-weight:="" bold="">Usually, what are the teaching methodologies employed by you in imparting education and training? </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">Technology plays a vital role in disseminating education like ours, although it is still a tool in one''s hands. We make the use of latest such tools in our education and training, like audio-video, animation, multimedia, among others. But, what is important for a student is to develop an aesthetic sense in whatever he or she does. At the PAF, we focus a lot on project work as well as student exchange programmes with our various foreign partners, such as the Nottingham Trent University. These student exchange programmes enables students to travel to these countries and interact with the students of those countries. This gives them tremendous exposure in terms of having a global outlook to fashion and design trends and helps them to hone their skills. Needless to say, it gives them an edge when they enter the job market.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-weight:="" bold="">At present how many courses do you have and what is your placement record?</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">We have 11 courses as of now. We have the photography course which has generated tremendous response from students. We have a placement cell which works round-the-year and our placement record so far has been very good.</span></div> </div>