This approach has encouraged industrial regional decentralisation
and also Sugar Cane diversification, as many of the SPES initial
Craft trainees were young girls who had followed "Les Ecoles Menagères"-
House-keeping Schools Courses and by acquiring additional skills
in diversified cottage industries at SPES rural Training Units,
they became self-entrepreneurs or joined new nearby industrial
firms.
Some of the
trainees who had a vocational or research inclination stayed at
the SPES Units, which also carry out Production to help cover
costs. Hence we have some Mastercraftsmen who have been at our
Training and Production Craft Centres for over 27 years!
SPES forms
part of the Mauritian patrimony as it has introduced and spread
artistic and technical skills through regular Workshops and Expos
to enhance the raw materials of the Islands environment and its
unique pluricultural society.
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This interactive approach has had a cultural and a socio-economic
industrial impact, by creating an added-value global Design awareness.
Some of the SPES Product-Design Workshops included lecturers
and participants from overseas and the African Region, which added
to their success and opened new horizons.
Since the
year 1981 SPES has been operating with electronic equipment specially
for photographic work for silkscreening.
It acquired
a computer design software in 1987 and in May 1989 launched a
High-tech Design Training Unit and uses CAD - Computer-Aided-Design,
as a Creativity and Marketing tool, mainly for the textile fields,
such as Knitting, Weaving and Embroidery but it also utilises
3D programmes for Woodwork and Ceramics to promote Designer-products. |