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The Handloom School

In today’s world, business practices have changed dramatically. Yet young weavers have no opportunity to advance their personal technical, business and design skills because they are trapped in a cycle of dependency and low literacy. More than 4 million people are employed today in India’s handloom weaving sector, yet there are very few academic institutions that guide and train traditional weavers for today’s new business needs.

As a result, even talented weavers are increasingly disillusioned by their craft. They are in dire need of an institution that addresses their traditional qualifications, which are intuitive rather than academic. A high percentage of weavers, particularly younger ones, are leaving handloom because they perceive their hereditary profession to be both non-remunerative and unfashionable.

Fear of not finding handloom weavers in next 30 years might not be an exaggeration!

I.	Context

The Handloom sector plays a very important role in the country’s economy. It is the second largest economic activity after agriculture, providing direct employment to over 4.3 million people engaged in weaving and allied activities as per the 3rd National census of Handloom, 2009.

A.The good part of the story

The figures below highlight the importance of the sector in the Indian economy:
 * It is the largest handloom industry in the world, distributed across over 400 handloom clusters.


 * 95% of the world’s hand woven fabric comes from India, 711.6 million square meters during 2013-14.


 * The sector contributes nearly 11% of the total cloth production in the country, contributing to export earnings with handloom exports rising quickly and steadily recently.


 * Of the total handloom workforce, 29.08 million are weavers.


 * About 39% of all handloom workers are contractual: 34% are employed under master weavers/private owners and 5% with institutions.

B. The sad part of the story
 * Handloom workers report an average of 191 days of work in a year.
 * A number of challenges are inherent to the sector and others have developed over the decades. These challenges are:


 * Traditionally men were the weavers and women were involved in pre & post loom work. Media has influenced them to find work outside the home, in search of a ‘better’ life, even if it pays less.


 * Weavers have found it difficult to adapt and innovate; for example, need for change in the width of the loom to use new fibers and designs.


 * Weavers are becoming less skilled in preparatory work and new design development, even in weaving clusters where the demand for their textiles is high. They frequently outsource work that they consider inferior, but is in fact essential for quality control, maintaining traditional skills and design knowledge, and allow for innovation.


 * Many weavers compromise with the quality of raw materials and dye to reduce the price of their products. This negatively affects the market value of their product and the brand value of the sector as a whole.


 * The younger generations of traditional weaver families are losing interest in weaving, with their families too discouraging their children working in handloom.


 * Many dyeing practices are not eco-friendly due to the lack of updated knowledge on handling the dye and dying processes.


 * Insufficient capital and international fluctuations in currency can make it difficult or impossible for weavers to set-up small enterprises.


 * Access to business development services and information is a challenge. When they do have access, acquiring information is very tedious and time consuming to use properly. For example transporting shipments from one state to another requires various formalities that are difficult to accomplish without prior training.


 * Potential buyers of handloom products have difficulty in finding the right producers as they are scattered across India. A single information exchange system should be developed that would enable easier transactions for weavers and their customers.


 * Looms and clusters are scattered from village to village, making supply chains difficult to handle which negatively affects production and delivery schedules.

Summarily, the traditional and local market for handloom is shrinking and individual weavers have no means to connect with the growing global market.

II Need of the Hour

India has one of the most diverse textile traditions in the world, which has both demand and appeal in domestic and international markets, with scope for tremendous economic benefit. However, weavers today are unable to access global markets and consumers; understand and solve for changing tastes and requirements; and meet international quality standards.

Despite over 4.3 million people employed in India’s weaving sector, there are very few academic institutions that act as a bridge for traditional weaver and new business needs.

In the contemporary world, where ways of doing businesses have transformed many-fold, young weavers have no opportunity to advance their technical, business and design skills. They are in need of an institution that will transcend their traditional intuitive qualifications.

Key challenges for young weavers in attending institutes that specialize in craft and textile design (e.g. NID, NIFT, Shrishti etc.) are III The Handloom School Initiative
 * Inability of candidates to meet minimum qualification requirements
 * Course/curriculum & objective of the courses at NID/NIFT are not suited to the needs of young weavers
 * The duration of courses taught at nid/nift becomes a deterrent for inclusion.
 * Inability to pay high fees

Elder handloom weavers are the last living archives of unique traditional skills. Unfortunately, their children and grandchildren know little of these skills and much knowledge has already been lost.

Now is our last chance to capture what remains of a heritage craft so that young weavers can still benefit from the knowledge of their elders. WomenWeave has initiated The Handloom School as one of its flagship programs.

Young weavers have a great need for specialized education that bridges the gap between traditional skills and new competencies. The Handloom School is implementing a model of learning that is global, scalable and designed specifically for handloom students. In this way, entrepreneurial education becomes a catalyst for change.

By fostering a new generation of young weavers and developing their ability to operate in the global market, The Handloom School is not only preserving and transforming the art of handloom but also empowering weaving communities to improve and sustain their future and livelihood.

IV Partners and Supporters

Various regional, national and International organizations are working closely with The Handloom School in nurturing young handloom weavers from different parts of the country.
 * Chenetha Colour Weaves
 * Dastkar
 * Dallas Foundation
 * Fab India
 * Good Earth
 * Jaypore.com
 * Khamir
 * Loom to Luxury
 * Nalli Silks
 * Paramparik Karigar
 * Pearl Academy
 * RangasutraTata Trusts