Just skills, no degrees
About Us
Nu-base Sewing Academy is a non-accredited fashion and sewing school founded in 2016 in Midrand, South Africa. The academy was founded as a result of having identified some challenges within the clothing and manufacturing sector, that being a lack or shortage of sewing skills in South Africa. The conclusion behind the lack of skill was tested through setting up various manufacturing platforms and then later realising that there was, and is, an inadequate number of trained and skilled employees who could carry out pattern making and garment construction activities to a competitive retail standard and competency. The academy felt a dire need to create sewing programmes that are outcome specific, particularly in pattern making, garment construction, and fit and alteration. These are the course segments we identified as key areas that needed a lot of improvement, particularly compared to what a standard TVET college or a private institution would deliver.
Our Mission
The academy's mission is to skill as many students as possible and to target students of different backgrounds and interests, in order to ensure that we have trained job seekers, entrepreneurs already in the industry, and youth who are trying to test their interest in fashion and manufacturing while they are still in school, to encourage their appetite for design and manufacturing. The training will give prospective students an opportunity to make the right career choices and to increase their employability, and will ensure that existing entrepreneurs within the fashion industry have more knowledge, which will improve their creative requirements within the design and manufacturing departments.
Our Vision
The academy's vision, amongst others, is to see a sharp decrease in unemployment rates. We aim to prepare prospective students to be ready to work in industry having spent little time learning: we offer short but comprehensive and useful courses that are relatable and affordable, and directly modelled on the real-world industry of fashion and manufacturing. Upon curriculum comparisons, we have strengthened our courses to bridge the gap in what seems to be a shortage in existing training programmes and qualifications. The academy further wishes to have entrepreneurs who have vast knowledge of the processes of making clothing, so that there can be improvements and efficiency within their respective businesses. The idea is to reduce the current declining statistics that start-up business owners face, which is the closure of their companies within the first 2 years of operation due to technical challenges faced by management and founders.
About Our Founder
Prudence R Madisha is a South African female entrepreneur who has acquired a fashion design degree and business and project management certificates. She founded her first business at the tender age of 22, straight from varsity. She founded the academy in 2016 as a result of having founded a clothing manufacturing business in 2014. The aim of the academy was to initially skill unemployed youths and adults who could be employed by entrepreneurs in the clothing industry.