The Hindu Business Line : In a jungle for management education

A `different' course: An open air classroom in the midst of greenery atJustice K.S. Hegde Institute of Management at Nitte in Udupi district. A casestudy, indeed , in management education.

A.J. Vinayak

Mangalore, April 8 The chirping sound of birds, the crackle of dried leaves, or the sun’s rays falling on one’s head are not what you normally encounter in a management class. But then who says management education has to be all about seminars, power point presentations, laptops and project works, in glass and granite buildings?

Management education can go hand in hand with the elements of nature. After all there was a time when princes and commoners were educated by sages in ashrams on the edges of forests. At least one B-school -- the Justice K.S. Hegde Institute of Management at Nitte in Udupi, now offers you that ‘Guru-cool’ experience. The institute, which moved into its new campus last year, is in the midst of a small forest.

So how did the idea of having classes in a jungle start? Explaining the genesis of a ‘jungle class’ session, Dr M.S. Moodithaya, Director of the institute, told Business Line that whenever he met somebody from outside Nitte, he faced one common complaint -- that his management institute was situated far away from the city.

“That is when we thought that we must convert the so-called limitations into our strengths. As the new campus is surrounded by a small forest, we decided to make best use of it. Along with providing everything that is available in an urban area, we are going a little beyond that. We are trying to create infrastructure that cannot be offered in a place like Bangalore or any other major cities. Let studying in a rural-based institution be a different experience than the one offered in an urban-based institution,” he says.

For instance, he says institutions in major cities can’t think of a huge campus spread across several acres. Above all, they can’t think of holding a class session in the midst of 100-year-old trees. In fact, the institute did not cut a single tree to hold class sessions there. The elevation of the area is such that it makes a suitable place for the open class room.

FIRST MOVER

According to Mr Chandraprakash Bhojak, second year marketing student from the institute, his management school has gone one step ahead of other institutes. The institute has demonstrated how to convert limitations into strength and take first-mover advantage out of it. Though management subjects are still taught in classrooms in the campus, those sessions which help develop hardcore management skills are taught here.

Dr Moodithaya said jungle class sessions help more for confidence building, personality development, team building and communication skills among others.

According to the first year student Ms Mehwish Hussain, she would not have imagined a facility like this in an urban set-up. For Ms Trupti Rose, a second year student, this new initiative of the institute helps in getting new ideas.

Even Ivy League B-schools are going to be jealous!

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