Global B-schools eye India enrolment

The Chicago Booth School of Business recently conducted a a crash course in entrepreneurship in its Global Launchpad in Mumbai. The senior members of the faculty were here not just for this programme, but also to interact with the Indian alumni and expand their network in India.

This business school is not alone. A range of management institutes from abroad have firmed up their expansion plans in the last few months. These plans include opening offices in India, expanding the alumni network and setting up regional boards comprising Indian members.

Robert Gertner, the deputy dean of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, said, "The university is planning a centre in India and is looking to offer a variety of non-degree programmes in India."

South Africa-based management institute Regenesys Business School has set up an office in Mumbai to expand its offerings in the Indian market and is exploring partnerships with Indian corporates to offer internships to Indians who take up their online course. Further, the B-school has launched a free online programmes in business education. This will offer courses from certificates, diplomas to MBA degrees online for Indian and international students.

Dr Marko Saravanja, chairperson of Regenesys Business School had then said that India had the highest number of registrations for this programme outside of Africa."To offer better opportunities to Indian students pursuing this course, we are in talks with companies in India to offer internship opportunities to these students. At a later stage, we would also look at setting up examination centres in India for the local students," he had said.

Richard Ivey School of Business will have a new dean, Robert Kennedy in October, who has a strong focus on India and would be formalising plans for India.

Professor Darren Meister, faculty director of the MSc program and an associate professor of information systems, said, "India is far more than a market for Ivey. With significant learning avenues for Ivey's programs as well as for Ivey's executive education activities, India offers Ivey many development opportunities across its areas of operations."

Ivey's India presence extends to India-based research, case development and publishing, business programs and executive education. Their EMBA and MBA students' India visits are ten-day and two-week, respectively, whereas the MSc students visit India for a 10-week internship, where they learn about India and doing business in India.

To attract more Indian students, scholarships targeted at Indian students are also increasing among the international institutes. Newcastle University Business School has announced new MBA scholarships worth £2,500 in India. The B-school also has an Indian member, Sandip Ghose, director, National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM), Securities Exchanges Board of India, Mumbai, on its international advisory board. It is also forming an advisory board in India.

Sharmishta Chatterjee-Banerjee, head of international relations at Newcastle University Business School said their desire was to form strategic partnerships with reputable institutions and industries. "This intent has led us to plan the establishment of an advisory board based in India to provide country-specific advice and support on how these proposed partnerships can be established in the short term and flourished over the medium to long term. We anticipate that the work of the India advisory board in collaboration with our boards in the UK and US will reflect our objective of establishing a select network of internationally-oriented institutions/ organisations around the world," she said.

India expansion plans are not restricted to business schools alone. Recently, Italy-based fashion and design institute Istituto Marangoni set up an India office to assist students here in securing admissions to its campus in Milan, London and Paris. Its India centre will be a liaison centre to assist students in the admission process and forge partnerships in fashion and design with concerned entities in India.

Foreign education consultants said that the number of Indian students going abroad has seen an increase of almost 40-45 per cent on a year-on-year basis. "With the institutes seeking to make India as one of their next big market in the emerging economies, we expect that more students will go to these institutes to pursue courses of study," a New Delhi-based foreign education advisor said.