IIM-A to train overseas faculty

Signs MoU with Future Generation Foundation of Egypt

The Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIMA), the only management institute in India that runs an exclusive faculty development programme for top management institutions, will now train management faculty from 20 countries.

The institute signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Future Generation Foundation (FGF), Egypt for setting such facilities.

Selected faculty members from management institutions and universities in the countries from the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region would attend the IIMA-charted courses both in Cairo and Ahmedabad. The first batch from MENA region is expected to attend classes at the IIMA campus in Ahmedabad in this summer.

Indira Parikh, dean of IIMA, who is also the co-ordinator for the Accelerated Development Programme (ADP) to be conducted by IIMA at Cairo from May, told Business Standard on Thursday, "This will be the first such unique faculty development programme to be conducted by any of the IIMs or B-Schools of IIM stature in India. The selected faculty members would attend an intensive faculty development programme in Egypt and Ahmedabad.

"While this is an attempt to improve quality of managers in these countries, IIMA would teach the faculty members on various things including course development, way of teaching and updates on various developments on the management sector along with global perspectives in today's changing world."

Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Tunisia, the UAE and Yemen are the 20 countries that come under the MENA region.

The Board of Governors of IIMA had approved in principle the institutional collaboration with Egypt in June, 2004. Subsequently a delegation from FGF, Egypt visited IIMA in the first week of August, last year. Later a collaboration between IIMA and FGF was finalised for three years and an MoU was signed between the two organisations.

"While IIMA would be carrying out a three-week programme for senior and top executives from MENA region at Cairo, IIMA would also conduct faculty development programmes, initially for 6-10 faculty members from this region who will also be required to attend the first programme to be started this May. This will be followed by the classes to be conducted at IIMA in Ahmedabad," said Parikh.

Interestingly, since 1987, IIMA has been conducting four-month long faculty development programme for major management institutions in India and neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Maldives.

Bakul Dholakia, director of IIMA, said: "This will help IIMA take management education to Egypt as well as the MENA region."