Meet to map the future of management education in India

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, August 21, 2007

Students and industry leaders will meet at IIM, Joka, from Thursday to Saturday to decide the course of management education in the country.
The Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS), a non-profit organisation which represents Indian management institutes and business schools internationally, has organised the convention on Emerging India: Strategic Transformation of Indian Industry and Management Education.
“Indian economy is growing at a rapid pace and by 2020, we would be the third-largest economy of the world. At the convention, we would discuss in which direction management education as well as Indian industry should move so that we can make this transition without any hitch,” IIMC director and AIMS president Shekhar Chaudhuri said.
The theme, according to Chaudhuri, is a deliberate choice. “The founding fathers of independent India envisioned a future that would not only strive to fulfil its social, political and economic responsibilities towards citizens, but also act as a global player in promoting peace, freedom and democracy. Today, after 60 years of independence, we need to find out what we should do to help India become an economic super power in the future.”
AIMS has almost 500 management institutions as its members and its mission is to function as the professional association of management education in India. Its concerns include quality of management, manpower training and development, management research, curriculum development and promoting management education.
Talking about the importance of the convention, AIMS vice-president Uday Salunkhe said, “The people who will attend the convention are all future leaders of India Inc. It would not only help them decide the future course of management education but would also ensure that Indian economy has an inclusive growth and the happiness index of its citizen can be increased by brining maximum number of people above poverty line.”
Over 300 delegates from all over the country, including directors of various management institutes, deans, faculty members, students as well as industry representatives, will take part in the convention. The agenda includes how management education can be prepared for the future, discussion on curriculum, implementation of OBC quota as well as the probability of a fee hike at IIMs.
Talking about how the management institutes will implement the suggestions put forward at the convention, Chaudhuri said: “There is no direct implementation of the suggestions. But since representatives of management education will be here, they would go back to their institutions and implement the ideas, which would even include curriculum change if require. Most of the institution heads are also related to various government bodies, making policy decisions with regard to management education; and hence that part too will be taken care of.”
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