2021: The SDC’s year in colour education

In a second-year limited by pandemic restrictions, 2021 had many highlights for the SDC’s colour education pathway. Here’s a recap of how far we’ve come …  

Coronavirus has been disrupting education at all levels for nearly two years now – and there is certainly no immediate sign of this unprecedented period coming to a close. 

However, the SDC’s long-established system for online learning put our teaching programmes at an advantage from the outset – enabling us to carry on, almost as usual. 

Student numbers have remained constant in 2021, despite the turbulent times faced by all employers supporting participants of FTCC, TCC and ASDC courses. 

Back in January, current learners and the companies they worked for were keen to talk about how SDC qualifications had added value to their day-to-day operations.  

Johnstons of Elgin explained how our opportunities supported its ambitions to develop and promote talented staff, including dyehouse manager Wayne Brown, who went on to achieve ASDC. 

On-the-job education is essential to the survival of our sector and this was brought sharply into focus in February with the SDC Skills Survey, presented as a discussion-fuelling white paper that prompted a flurry of coverage in the trade media. 

A total of 77% of textile coloration professionals who filled in our questionnaire believed there was a widening skills gap in the dyeing industry, with 53% agreeing this was now at crisis point. 

This further underlined the value of SDC courses within our network and wider sphere of influence, and certainly in the light of the ongoing pandemic.  Our message was clear – skilled dyers were more crucial than ever. 

Following on from factory shutdowns, and a re-filling of order books – if only partially – our collective attention began to return to sustainability targets and innovative projects bubbling under. Of course, education is the key to our sector minimising its effects on the environment. 

In the summer, we were delighted to announce the success of our first cohort of graduates of the undergraduate degree-equivalent Associateship of the SDC (ASDC) course in its latest, revised form. Together, the five-strong class of 21 represented a ray of positivity and investment in the future. 

Alistair Little of FTS Dyers in Scotland was awarded the discretionary President’s Diploma of Honour for his year group. He only intended to work in dyeing as a stop-gap, as a recent school leaver, but got absorbed into this fascinating world – and stayed the distance! 

Now he holds a senior role in the production team, handling colour matching, recipe formulation, creating new dyeing processes, quality control and customer contact, thanks in part to his employer’s fruitful relationship with the SDC. 

In turn, the global reputation of our courses rests upon the industry and teaching professionals delivering them – including education manager Dr Sue Hulbert who oversees Foundation Textiles Coloration Certificate (FTCC) and Textile Coloration Certificate (TCC). 

In a Q&A for the SDC website, Sue enthused about the international community fostered by live, online sessions – a forum for up-and-coming dyeing professionals to transcend time zones and local dyeing conditions, materials, and techniques to compare notes from the dyehouse, print works or laboratory, and learn from each other. 

SDC courses and qualifications cover a broad spectrum in terms of subject matter, attainment level, commitment required and associated costs, and while we do also focus on the creative, our unique selling point is the technical – the ‘why’ behind the ‘how’ when it comes to coloration. 

However, our support for education runs wider than our own programmes – and the SDC International Design Competition is a key point of connection with the design world via creative college and university textile courses all over the world. 

Towards the end of 2021, a high point was the grand final of this renowned contest, attended by students, tutors, judges and organisers from all over the world, in a true reflection of our standing in the global community of textile coloration. 

Our educational opportunities continue to thrive and evolve – watch this space for more exciting developments in 2022! 

In the meantime we wish all our student members, associates, friends, and contacts a merry Christmas and happy holidays, wherever you are!