Transforming exec education

Updated on: Thursday, October 14, 2010

The trend of fresh graduates going into higher management education without work experience is ineffective, said Prof. Damodar Acharya, Director, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IIT-Kgp). Addressing at the recent Higher Education Meet 2010, organised by CII he remarked that corporates should encourage higher management education among experienced personnel.

Satish Tewari, Principal Secretary, Dept. of Higher Education Govt. of West Bengal, Aloke Mookherjea Past Chairman CII Eastern Region & Chairman Education and Skill Development Sub Committee, CII ( Eastern Region), Prof Sekhar Chaudhari, Director Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, Kurush Grant, Chairman CII Eastern Region, Pallavi Kaul, Vice Chairperson, Education and Skill Development Sub Committee, CII Eastern Region, Dr Saugat Mukherjee, Regional Director, CII ( Eastern Region) were also present at the occasion.

The Confederation of Indian Industry organised the Higher Education Meet in Kolkata today focusing on the theme “Globalization and Higher Education: Expansion, Excellence and Inclusion”.

As a part of the on-going efforts of CII on bridging gap between industry and academia, the CII Eastern Region organized this Higher Education Meet to set an ideation platform where all stakeholders would deliberate on the way forward of how to bridge this gap in supply and demand of skilled human resources to the industry by promoting effective industry-institute partnership models. .

Prof. Acharya commented that new management institutes mushrooming are also not good for education as they are not up to the mark. Prof. Acharya concluded by urging the industry to work together with the management institutes to create competitive personnel.

Also speaking on theme “Globalisation and Management Education: Expansion, Excellence and Inclusion”, Prof. Chaudhari said that Indian industry needs to participate in the ‘expansion, excellence and inclusion’ of the management institutions. He said that the need of capacity expansion, faculty expansion, and better salary standards cannot be met as the funds from students’ fees are insufficient to meet these demands. He also urged the industry to encourage management programmes among its executives with the help of satellite communication. He noted that there was a decline in the application forms received for CAT, compared to last year.

Tewari said that Indian management education is in the midst of massive transformation. Regulatory changes, growth in the Indian economy, a culture of entrepreneurship and the impact of digital technology in testing and learning has created unprecedented opportunities. Yet the sector also faces serious challenges due to unmet stakeholder demands. The management education sector has experienced a significant growth, but corporate and student satisfaction must remain high if the sector is to flourish.

Opening the meet, Grant addressed that India has 550 million people below the age of 25 which is a great asset. The country needs a paradigm shift in knowledge education and strategic reforms which would help in harnessing this young workforce, he concluded.

Mookherjea said noted that “quality management education has direct impact on industrial growth and economic development”. He concluded by urging on the need for the proliferation of business schools, mandate of quality and the need for some regulatory authority.

Transforming exec education

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