Gujarat Mba

Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal was recently quoted as saying  “A revolution larger than the one in the telecom sector awaits the education sector.” While said in context of the revolutionary foreign education institutions bill getting the nod of approval from India’s cabinet, one cannot help but see the wider context of his words. The Indian education sector, through a series of recently passed reforms, is undergoing nothing less than a revolution of sorts.  While critics may scoff and pessimists might shrug it off, it might be too soon to pass a judgement of any sort as most of these reforms have yet to see execution. And yet, one cannot completely sideline the fact that changes are being made. And if not all for the good, some positive action will result of it.

Here’s looking at some of the reforms and policies that are set to create a wave of change:

The Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations, Maintenance of Quality and Prevention of Commercialisation) Bill

India’s cabinet approved a proposal to allow foreign universities to set up campuses in India. The Parliament has to still approve the Bill before it becomes a law, and given the fact that many politicians run Higher Educational Institutions in India, the Bill may face some opposition. But if passed, it would mean that with a deposit of about Rs. 50 crore as corpus fund, foreign universities can set up base in India and provide degrees to students, right here on desi land.

A good thing is that the bill has provisions to not let national interests be compromised. Institutes will have to be registered with the UGC and other regulatory bodies, will have to follow rules and regulations which will take about eight months and the government will hold the right to reject any university’s application if it feels it would impace national interests in any way.

The driving force behind this bill has been Kapil Sibal himself who hopes to reduce the large number of Indian students traveling abroad for higher education by making quality education available right here in the country itself.

The National Authority for Regulation in Accreditation of Higher Educational Institutions Bill

The Bill envisages constitution of the authority to process the accreditation of higher educational institutions. According to Sibal, “We need to inform the world that we are ready to change and compete with the rest of the world. The accreditation is compulsory for existing and new educational institutions and universities”. The National Authority for Regulation in Accreditation of Higher Educational Institutions Bill 2009 will accredit and rate all higher educational institutions in India, including distance education systems, central and state universities, deemed universities, colleges and even polytechnics.

Under the legislation, agencies will be created that will actually conduct the ratings. The parameters being checked will be infrastructure, teacher-pupil ratio, learning and research, curriculum, assessment procedures, faculty strength and teaching outcomes. An obvious repercussion of this will be the ensuing check on quality across institutions and crack down upon fake and sub-standard institutions and universities.

The National Commission for Higher Education and Research Bill, 2010

Set up under the recommendation of the Yash Pal committee, the NCHER is meant to serve as a single regulatory body to replace and subsume the University Grants Commission, the All India Council for Technical Education and the National Council for Teachers Education, which have thus far regulated the higher education sector in India. It will solely determine, co-ordinate, maintain standards and promote higher education and research. Narendra Jadhav, member, Planning Commission, said, “Despite being a regulatory body, UGC gives out grants. This is a fundamental flaw as the same authority that gives out grants should not function as a regulatory body as well. A turf war exists within the councils that are part of the regulatory bodies. NCHER will try to achieve a synergy.”

Unfair Practices in Technical, Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill, 2010

The bill has paved the way for stern action against those institutions indulging in unjust and deceptive practices. The bill seeks to curb malpractices such as accepting fees or charges without issuing receipts, admitting students without conducting admission tests, charging a capitation fee, overpricing the prospectus, heavy advertisements by institutions and provides for refund of a certain percentage of the fee deposited, if one subsequently withdraws from the institution. Administrators and management personnel of errant institutions could be slapped with a fine up to Rs 50 lakh or even be imprisoned for a term of three years.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act

The Act makes it compulsory for state-funded schools to provide free education to every child between the age of 6 and 14 years. “It being a fundamental right, if a child is refused free education by a school, either a parent or the child himself/ herself can approach the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution. It is also a statutory right, which allows parents and children to approach their nearest taluka or district,” says Ashok Agarwal, lawyer and president of All India Parents Association.

The Act also maintains that no child can be held back, expelled, or be required to pass a board examination until he/ she completes elementary education. In so far as infrastructure is concerned, the Act requires schools (where there is an issue) to improve within three years, or else face being de-recognised. The Act mandates a fixed student-teacher ratio and allots 25 per cent reservation for underprivileged students.

Reforms in examinations and class 10 and 12 evaluations

In a landmark decision, welcomes by almost everyone, the ministry has decided to do away with the taxing standard 10 CBSE exams, if not in entirety, atleast by making it optional, beginning from the year 2011. Other suggested changes also include strengthening of the comprehensive and continuous evaluation (CCE) system and the introduction of a grading system. This was brought on by the changes suggested in the  National Curriculum Framework (NCF-2005).

It started with the declaration of bankruptcy of a single company and then a handful more in the USA. In the next blink-and-miss moment, reflecting a dominoe-effect of sorts, businesses around the world seemed to collapse and shut shop – just like that. An economic recession, the aftermath of which are yet being felt across continents – 2010 demonstrated the fragility of the complex system of businesses around us and the scale of impact of a few badly made decisions.

Businesses can safely be said to be the driving factors of an economy. They affect the public at large, directly with their goods and services and indirectly with their effect on the surroundings. Having said that, it is then of utmost importance and yet of debatable concerns, the extent to which businesses need to be given a free reign. Does one agree on state interference in private concerns, and if so to what level, and if not, can businesses be trusted to not repeat debacles that have the potency to impact an entire nation if not many of them?

The same debate rages on even in the case of media. Mass media systems of the world vary from each other according to the economy, polity, religion and culture of different societies.

The Indian system of democracy lies somewhere in between communist economies like China that wholly control what the media projects to the public and capitalist nations like USA where the media enjoys the power to say anything about anyone. With a free press rule, India still restricts to a reasonable extent as imposed by the Constitution of India the power of the media to say or write something.

The same question – How much government-control is enough and to what extent can media be trusted to apply self-control?

The one thing that is certain is that with the progress in technology such as invention of satellites and access to transnational media, it has become indispensably critical to make businesses accountable for making their operations transparent and to adhere to the law.

In a few recent incidents when a few law-breakers tried to get away with evading the law came under the public scanner which may perhaps condone an error made in ignorant innocence but is rarely forgiving of those made in full knowledge of the extent of their consequences. The Satyam scam and the subsequent media and public outcry against its erroneous owners is a case that highlights the above fact. The case not only put into spot the owners and board members of the organization but also its employees, its audit firms, its banks and everybody else associated with it in any way.

Thus putting into perspective the thought that organizations today are liable not just for it’s own acts in solidarity but also the actions of it’s stakeholders, internal as well as external. A single action of an employee can make or break an organization and that apart from keeping their eyes and ears open, a company needs to also keep its values – ethical, social, moral in check and build upon a company culture where every employee is made to ingrain the same into their own working spaces.

A point I would like to put forward here is, where does one start to build upon the fabric of an ethical employee? An HR manager can tell a better qualified candidate than another in terms of educational qualification, academic degrees, talent, skill, personality, attitude and similar traits. But how can one be sure of one’s ethics? How does one judge an honest candidate over another?

While its easy to think of the question as subjective, a solution implementable in the near future, one that would put to rest atleast some of the above concerns, as the offering of a small contribution to a larger and wider context is the training of our management students.

An important thing that even the best b-schools seem to have missed out on today is the imparting of social and moral values to its students. Perhaps a lesson or two in corporate social responsibility, in ethical and honest behaviour, would create better employees than the money-making machines and the mechanically conditioned to seek better ‘pay packages’ individuals being churned out today. Having said that, of course a large part of the responsibility rests on the individual herself/himself.

It is as someone rightly said “If you build that foundation, both the moral and the ethical foundation, as well as the business foundation, and the experience foundation, then the building won’t crumble.”

Life sometimes poses stark ironies in front of you.  All that you have believed and said over ages comes back to you and leads to theories being questioned and even reframed.  Most of us have always believed and preached that one of the three biggest problems which have plagued our country is POPULATION.  An increasing population which in turn leads to poverty and further to unemployment.  But if one looks back to the year 2007/08, one will realize that this problem has turned the fate of this country on its head.  As the world was going through misery because of the apparent fall of the United States of America and the United Kingdom, India stood tall amongst the welter – untouched and unaffected.  The fall of the United States of America because of the sub-prime crisis which in turn led to reduced exports to the country, immensely throbbed the export oriented economies including the likes of China and Japan.  It turned into a vicious cycle which sucked in most economies of the world.  But India stood strong and came out of the recession as a power to reckon with.  What was the reason for India’s strength? – ‘POPULATION’.  A large population base which needs loads of goods for its consumption leaving very little for exports and thus all the lesser vulnerability to incidences unfolding on foreign lands.

Such has been the impact of the large population of India that not only has it come out strong but has also provided to itself and the world a large & dynamic work force.  With almost 70% of India’s population being below the age of 35, there is never a dearth of hands at work.  The young population of India has galvanized the work environment of the companies leading to increased efficiency naturally extending to escalated revenues.  However, it is high time now that this youth brigade started showing its impact on the management of the country too.  The country has had its share of worries and is still battling with them.  These include the likes of increased incidence of crime, terrorism, corruption, etc.  Some of these problems have existed since time immemorial and the others have just recently cropped up but a fool proof solution to none of them has arrived.

It is time that the youth – the future of the country picked up the broom and cleaned the system of all the dust.  It is time that this youth population which has been able to galvanize the economy of the country, galvanized the political structure of the country too.  It is high time that along with the management of the corporate, the management of the country was also handed over to the young.  It is time this future of our country took the step towards a better future.  So, bring it on Future, we await you!!!

As I moved out of my car yesterday, Sunday the 16^th of May, to venture into a newly established restaurant on S.G. Highway, I was struck by a strong feeling of nostalgia.  Nostalgia, not because I garnered memories for the place, it was newly built as I said.  But the nostalgia was for our country which has gone through a drastic change in the last couple of decades.  An S.G. highway which was almost unheard of some time back is now in the thick of things with the Amdavadis.  With a large mass of youngsters and elderly alike thronging the many centres for recreation which go synonymous to S.G. highway, one hardly gets a reflection of the haunted look that the same road use to sport nothing more than 5 to 6 years back.  So has been the pace of India’s growth which has left one and all short of breath.

Searching for the roots for this frantic paced growth; one has to cast one’s memory back to the early 1990s when the country was opened up.  With MNCs challenging the long established hold of the domestic companies, Indian Consumer was all set to be the king and for the first time so.  But that is not what I have set out to write today.  I wish to talk to you about an important chapter in the Indian growth story.  A chapter which, according to me, is the propellant to the development that we see around us.  And that chapter is BPO, i.e. Business Process Outsourcing.  Business Process Outsourcing, as all of us might know, is the process of outsourcing work from foreign land to some other country.  India has been one of the preferred destinations for such outsourcing from USA and other major countries of the world.  The reasons – Low Labour Cost & Large English Speaking Population.  India, for your information, has the second highest English speaking population in the world after the United States of America and that has worked as a catalyst for the establishment of the large BPO industry in the country.  It has provided employment to a significant number of people but what is more important for us to know is that a good chunk of those people employed are college goers and fresh graduates.  So, it has a direct relevance to most students who might be reading this.  And if it has then it is important to know the problems of the industry as well.

India, as I said, has been bagging outsourcing work from offshore countries because of its English speaking ability.  But if one has been open to the recent developments in the world, one would realize that China might soon surpass India and take away the privilege of having the highest English speaking population in Asia.  Where on one hand China has been pressing on the need to imbibe English language to its population, India has almost been caught napping.  We have to open our minds to the fact that we are being chased and someone else might soon pull its nose ahead of us.

The need of the hour is to establish centres of excellence for teaching English language to the students and maintain the edge.  One solution to this problem might lie in the kitty of the management schools of the country.  With more than 200,000 students aspiring to study management every year, the numbers are obviously on their side.  Management schools, by guiding the 200,000 + youth population, associated with it, in the right direction, can make a great contribution to the country’s cause.  The institutes might have options of conducting voluntary workshops in English language or launch a similar compulsory course or have daily presentations to hone the English speaking skills’ of the students.  In any case, a small step by management schools towards retaining India’s tag of having the highest English speaking population in Asia might go a long way in the Indian growth story and secure itself a place in the pages of history.