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15th October, 2007
Dear Mr.
Prime Minister,
Management education has seen phenomenal growth in the past
six years with the number of institutions providing undergraduate and
post-graduate level courses rising to over 1700. Of these, more than 1000 were
added after the year 2000. This has been possible largely due to the
entrepreneurial initiative of promoters, taking advantage of the ever
increasing demand for management graduates, hence management education.
Unfortunately, this has also led to an exploitative and commercial environment
with quality being compromised. Regulatory focus only on physical
infrastructure rather than research, qualified faculty and relevance of
courses has created a mismatch between supply and demand.
As a part of its consultative process, NKC constituted a
Working Group of experts from academia and industry under the chairmanship of
Mr. P. M. Sinha. The names of the members are listed in the annexe to this
letter. Based on the Working Group’s inputs and consultations with concerned
stakeholders, NKC proposes the following set of initiatives:
1. New Regulatory
Framework: NKC advocates good governance rather than the prevalent system
of a priori control being exercised by AICTE in this sphere. The current
regulatory regime focuses on punitive actions rather than on nurturing
institutions. NKC proposes that an autonomous Standing Committee for
Management Education be set up under the Independent Regulatory Authority for
Higher Education. Its main role would be to exercise due diligence at the
point it approves a license to grant degrees/diplomas. In doing so, it would
assess the academic credibility and the financial viability of the proposed
institution on the basis of information submitted in accordance with the
stipulated criteria. It will apply exactly the same norms to public and
private institutions, just as it will apply the same norms to domestic and
international institutions. It would, in addition, license agencies to take
care of accreditation. Other responsibilities of the Standing Committee will
be to collate as well as communicate information on Management Educational
Entities (MEEs)1;
set up an information exchange; conduct demand forecasting of managerial
manpower and develop and maintain a low cost e-monitoring system.
2. Grading
Institutions: The Standing Committee will stipulate grading norms and
nominate independent rating agencies to assess and categorize MEEs.
Mushrooming private MEEs necessitate a reliable rating system to help the
market function better, enabling students and employers to compare different
MEEs. Hence, a two stage rating process is recommended. In the first stage,
rating covering infrastructure may be
mandated before an MEE can admit students. The second stage would consist of
rating of quality (admission process, teaching, research and publications)
which shall be conducted every three years to ensure accountability. Grading
norms for each of these steps should be established in consultation with
experts. CRISIL and ICRA were consulted in the process and they have agreed to
undertake rating of MEEs. The Standing Committee shall decide on a fair and
transparent mechanism to deal with conflicting points of view between a rating
agency and an MEE. |
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