IIM Lucknow to start virtual classes on August 4 over Covid-19 concerns

Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow will start classes on the virtual mode for the new batch (2020-22) from August 4 to overcome the covid-19 challenge, which has disrupted conventional classroom teaching since March 2020.

The online classes will begin for the incoming 36th batch of Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) and of Post Graduate Programme in Management in Agri Business Management (PGP ABM).

Recently, IIM Calcutta also announced that it would start online classes for its students on August 10.

So far, IIM Lucknow has sent offers of admission to 451 PGP students and 53 PGP ABM students compared to the corresponding figures of 405 PGP and 73 PGP ABM students, respectively, last year.

“As an admissions chair, despite a tough admissions cycle, this year on account of global pandemic covid-19, we have been able to maintain diversity and offer admissions to some of the brightest minds,” Professor K B Gupta, chairperson admissions IIM Lucknow, said.

He said, this year, the Institute has admitted 33 per cent female students (almost same as last year). “Like in the past years, the key focus during the admissions was to ensure diversity, especially gender diversity, without compromising on merit. A total of 177 female students have been inducted this year viz. 148 in PGP and 29 in PGP ABM.

The students’ diversity could be assessed in terms of educational background too. Along with the students from engineering background, students from other backgrounds like business management, arts, commerce, science, agriculture, hotel and tourism management, law, medical, psychology etc also comprise the new batch.

Earlier, IIM Lucknow had announced a hike in fee for the new batch of the flagship two-year PGP programme by 35 per cent. The effective fee increase was Rs 5.09 lakh from Rs 14.16 lakh (2019-21) to Rs 19.25 lakh (2020-22 batch).

Some other IIMs including IIM Bangalore and IIM Rohtak have also increased the fee for their PGP programmes. For example, IIM Bangalore will charge Rs 23 lakh for the flagship management programme, up 10 per cent from Rs 21 lakh previously. Similarly, IIM Rohtak hiked the fee for 2020-22 batch from Rs 13.8 lakh to Rs 15.2 lakh. 

According to the IIM Lucknow corporate communication and media relations (CCMR) chairperson Prof Vikas Srivastava, the fee increase decision for the batch commencing 2020 had been taken in a board meeting held in June 2019.

He pointed out that IIM Lucknow had rolled back its fee in 2013 by 10 per cent from 12 lakh to Rs 10.8 lakh, and later the fee was only revised upward to the 2013 level for 2016 batch and onwards. “After 2016, there has been no fee hike and thus a decision to hike fee was taken in June 2019 in a board meeting.”