JOIN USExperts from various B-schools present at the third Indian management conclave held on Thursday said the spiralling number of private management schools in the country is affecting quality, which is further limiting job opportunities in the market.
M Masood, president of the Association of Indian Management Schools, said business schools have been opening up everywhere with All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) regulating licences.
Masood added that the quality of teaching faculty, curriculum, infrastructure, transparency in admissions process, defined merit list and fee are all issues on the backburner for the two and three tier B-schools at least.
There are over 4,000 B-schools in the country. Masood said these schools have been facing three issues with their increasing numbers — competition, long term sustainability and survival.
Experts said in the last three to four years there has been a 25-40 per cent drop in demand for management courses.
“Two and three tier B-schools are facing closures due to tough competition in placements and high fees,” said a speaker.
“Another problem in two and three tier schools is that the education model is owner- driven and is for profit, giving less or no chance to faculty or the director to make changes where required,” added Masood.
The experts added that the accreditation process should be handed over to a separate council. “AICTE has no expertise about management schools. It is for engineering colleges. Due to lack of regulations there are questions about transparency which reflects in the handful of students getting good placements,” said a speaker.
There are 44,000 higher education institutes in the country which is ten times more than China and seven times more than United States when compared to the education market in both the countries which are bigger than India, said Bharat Gulia, senior manager at Ernst and Young.
There are around three crore students in higher education in India, of which two crore are regular students.
“What will happen slowly is that the handful of B-schools which are able to make their brands and are expanding will grow and attract more students, the rest of the schools will slowly see a closure,” he said.