19 business schools in R'than want to shut shop

Only 150 students applied for 9,000 seats in colleges

There are a few takers for the much-hyped management courses offered in Rajasthan colleges this year. Business schools in the state are now facing an unprecedented drought of admissions. 

Only 150 students have applied for the 9,000 seats offered in these colleges, some of which are on the verge of closure. At least 19 such colleges have reportedly applied for closure due to insufficient number of students, according to sources.

The situation has left the management of many MBA colleges in despair as they struggle to fill the huge shortfall.

The state technical department has allowed direct admissions for a month, in which students with passing marks can enrol for an MBA degree. However, experts feel that this may not help to fill a fraction of the total seats even if they compromise with the quality of students.

“Direct admissions will not bring any radical change. This year many colleges will suffer loss,” said G K Tyagi, MBA admission coordinator.

One of the reasons keeping students away from an MBA degree is the poor job market, forcing many to explore new and conventional courses. The rising number of applicants pursuing MTech, CS, CA and Law, besides diploma and certificate courses in mass media, fashion and event management has affected the MBA market.

Conventional teaching methods and a decade-old curricula that have discouraged many big companies from campus recruitment has also kept students away from opting the MBA course.

According to Dr Karunesh Saxena, a member of college development council and a faculty at Mohanlal Sukhdia University lack of information about CMAT is also one of the reasons for less number of applicants.

“One of the reasons for low turnout of students is lack of information about the replacement of state-level admission test and RMAT (Rajasthan Management admission test)
with a single Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) introduced this year.”

He said, the decision was not properly conveyed to the aspiring students. So there is still confusion among the students.

Rajasthan Technical University’s (RTU) delay in conducting examinations and announcing results on time has affected placements and enrolment of students, Saxena said.

 Poor business sentiments and economic recession has also taken toll on the management course.
 
Sources blame the technical education department’s faulty policies. It allowed new management colleges to mushroom without considering demand.