PRESENT MANAGEMENT EDUCATION SCENARIO
During the past 35 years India has emerged as a major centre of management education. With the establishment of 4 Indian Institutes of Management - Calcutta (1961), Ahmedabad (1962), Bangalore (1973) and Lucknow (1984), the setting up of the Management Division at the Xavier Labour Relations Institute, Jamshedpur and the offering of full time and part-time MBA programmes by some leading universities in the country, there was a quantum jump in the number, prestige, recognition and the impact of management education system in the country. More recently and particularly during the last five years the country has witnessed a phenomenal growth in the founding of management institutions most of them in the private sector, offering two year full time/3-year part-time post-graduate and/or 1-2 year Diploma programmes in different functional areas of management. Additionally two new Indian Institutes of Management at Indore (M.P.) and Calicut (Kerala) are being set up in in the Govt. sector during the current financial year. At present, 422 management institutes/departments have been recognised by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for imparting postgraduate programme in management having a total annual intake of 38,500 students - 25,600 full-time, 6,600 part- time and 6,300 distance education.
The All India council for Technical Education (AICTE) is entrusted. with the responsibility of regulating,
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controlling and ensuring the quality of Management Education in the country. The formation of the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) and the number of workshops that it had organized have contributed substantially to widespread awareness and concern for quality in Management Education. NBA is in the process of finalising the criteria, for Accreditation of Management Schools and actual accreditation process would start soon. Before launching the process, the NBA plans to embark on a few benchmark studies to provide meaningful data base and lay a strong foundation for the process.
The AICTE places equal emphasis on regulating the entry of new management institutions as well as on enhancing the quality of the existing ones. In regulating the entry of new institutions, AICTE has developed an effective and transparent evaluation system based on certain norms and standards which have been developed with the active participation of some of the leading management academicians. The entry of new management institutions as well as the expansion of the existing ones is regulated by these norms, and is based on critical examination of the proposals by expert committees appointed by AICTE.
Whether a proposal originates from the private sector or from a University system, it goes through the same kind of scrutiny before one is permitted to start or continued a Management programme. To ensure that UGC is fully kept in the picture, any proposal from a University system has to routed through the UGC. In the case of Private sector institutions, the concerned State Government's clearance is to be obtained in addition to approval by AICTE.
The Norms and Standards developed by the AICTE provide, among other things a basic framework for curriculum development, academic standards, admission process, number and quality of the faculty and the governance system.
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There has been a quantum jump in the number of management institutions offering post-graduate i.e. MBA level programmes in the country. As stated above, as of March 31, 1996, the number of recognized management institutions offering post-graduate MBA level programmes stood at about 422 with an intake capacity of about 38,500 students.
This number is about one half of the number of MBAs produced in the USA and is the largest for any country outside of USA. The phenomenal growth that has taken place could be seen if we compare the figures available at the beginning of the 8th Plan period. In 1991, the number of recognised management institutions was only about 130 with an intake of about 12,000 students of which Full-time students were 8000, Part-time students were 3000 and Distance Education students were 1000.