B-schools demand level playing field with IIMs

They say with the IIMs allowed to award MBA)degrees instead of diplomas in management, it might jeopardise the credibility of their PGDM programmes

Institutes offering a postgraduate diploma in management (PGDM), the same certificate offered by the Indian Institutes of Management, (IIMs), have decided to demand a level playing field with the IIMs.

Directors, deans and chairmen of PGDM institutions of nearly 50 B-schools met in New Delhi to express their apprehension on the IIM Bill and approach the Ministry of Human Resource Development with regard to the issue.

PGDM institutions said they will face a crises of identity. They say with the IIMs being empowered to award master of business administration (MBA) degrees instead of diplomas in management, it might jeopardise the credibility of their PGDM programmes.

"Outside and inside India, there will be doubts about credibility, validity and acceptability of these programmes among recruiters, admission seekers and foreign universities," said H Chaturvedi, Alternate President, Education Promotion Society of India (EPSI) and Director, BIMTECH.

"MHRD can think of granting Deemed to be university status to all those PGDM institutions, which fulfill the criteria for getting this status," he added.

The Bill, placed before the Cabinet and proposed to be introduced during the monsoon seesion by the MRHD, will allow the IIMs to offer degrees.

For the last 50 years, 300 PGDM institutions are contributing to the national economy by producing one lakh talented managers every year.  In teaching, research, consultancy, executive training, these self-financed institutions are competing with IIMs. In all leading rankings of B-Schools, 75 to 80 per% positions are occupied by PGDM institutions.
 
Institutes that offer PGDM include XLRI, SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, TA Pai Management Institute and Goa Institute of Management.

In India, management education has two career-oriented qualifications — PGDM (diploma) and MBA (degree). MBA degrees are offered by universities or colleges affiliated to universities, while a PGDM is offered by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)-approved institutions. While the curriculum for MBA is designed by universities, for PGDM courses, it is determined by the institution concerned.

IIM directors said the idea behind an IIM Bill was to turn these institutes into statutory bodies to offer master’s degrees and doctorates, instead of diplomas and fellowships. Currently, IIMs cannot award degrees, as they have been set up as societies, under the Societies Registration Act.

Degrees can only be awarded by universities and institutes such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), set up by Parliament or legislatures, and those declared deemed-to-be-universities under the University Grants Commission Act. Currently, the 13 IIMs issue certificates stating their PGDM programme is equivalent to an MBA degree.

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