Management schools ‘must get operational autonomy’

The working of private, autonomous PGDM (Post Graduate Diploma in Management) schools will not in any way get affected if the government allows degree-granting rights to the Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs).

“PGDM schools, which have served the nation so eminently and eloquently all these years, must be given autonomy to operate, for having given a lot to Indian management education, quality, respectability and innovativeness.

“They are, in a way, at the vanguard of Indian management education,” said J Philip, Vice-Chairman and President of Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship (XIME), Kochi, at the B-school summit held here over the weekend under the aegis of the Indian Association of Autonomous Business Schools (IAABS).

The employability of PGDM graduates will at least be twice as much as that of MBA graduates from the university system. This distinctive contribution of the PGDM schools must be recognised, he added.

“At present, there are over 3,600 B-Schools operating in India which will come down to about 2,500 through mergers, acquisitions as well as closures,” Philip said.

“This way, the remaining ones will emerge stronger, faster and sharper. Today, the average production of a B-School is only 85 graduates. This must increase to at least 120 per B-School by 2020,” he explained.

According to him, in the prevailing scenario of liberalisation, the Centre should not have gone in for a notification like the one issued by AICTE on December 28, 2010, which consisted of a heavy dose of restrictions on the PGDM system despite having served the country, all these years. “The PGDM system was saved from almost certain ruin only because of the intervention of the Supreme Court, based on a set of writ petitions, which ‘stayed’ the notification from being implemented.

B Muthuraman, former MD of Tata Steel, who was the chief guest, highlighted the issue concerning autonomy.

“The subject of how much to control, how much to let go, and how much not to control, is a subject that is a very widely debated in every field of activity, including the activity of governance.

“We all have seen what too much of regulation can do. You know the break-up of the Soviet Union or the State of the India between 1947 and 1991. India did not move forward simply because of the fact that we had just too much regulations in every sector.”

He said that India started moving forward only post 1991, that is, post liberalisation. I always call India as a country with a history of 5,000 years but with an experience of may be 25 years. This is because India, as a competitive country, is only about 25 years old. That is the only thing of relevance,” he added.

“So you have a situation in India today where there is a debate that needs to take place where the Centre always will want to control more, want to put more regulations, while institutes or educational institutes would want as much autonomy and as little control as possible,” he pointed out.

Father E Abraham, Director, XLRI and President IAABS, said the primary mission of IAABS is to contribute towards the development of management education in all its facets and take steps in positively influencing nation-wide management education policies.

“We also aim to promote and collaborate with regional and international management networks with an avowed intent to advance management education and its eco-system worldwide. We are guided by the principle that self-regulation is the best form of regulation, and this philosophy must guide the Association and its members,” he added.

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