‘Quality of faculty main concern in biz education'

The quality of faculty is the main concern in management education today, the 30th Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS) deliberated here on Thursday.

Speaking on a panel discussion on ‘Leading change in management education’ organised by WE School, a private business school, Dr N Muthukumar, president, Automotive Axles Ltd, said: “The next project from AIMS should be on the improvement of the quality of faculty in management studies. Though there are many management institutions in the country, it’s high time we focused on improving their quality. If this is not done, there will be a huge setback to management studies.”

The panel predicted there would not be any classroom education in the near future in management studies and that it would all depend on the individuals and their experience.

Prof G Raghuram, Director, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB), said: “The classroom education in any stream has its own importance. The absence of classroom education will lead to a lack of exchange of ideas on the topic. The duty of the faculty would be to shape the mind of the student. So at any time, the importance of classroom education will continue to play a dominant role.”

Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), said: “Not just engineering seats, but management seats are also going vacant every year. Every year, nearly 50 management schools will close down in India.” Differentiating engineering education from management, Sahasrabudhe there would be a good relationship between teachers and students in management courses as compared to engineering.