Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Re: IIMs going abroad


Friends,

I think, the educational institutions are no different than any other
organizations doing business. Of course we want our public institutions
to serve the public interest first and foremost. Once they meet their
set goals, they should be free to expand into other areas of their
competence - even serving global markets. The days of 'build it and
they will come' are gone. Businesses should find ways to serve their
customers more competitively. In this case go closure to students.

Mahesh mentioned MIT/Harvard and the likes. They do not see the need
yet as they are still living on their past glory encouraged by their
monopolistic position. A day will come, I am sure, even they will have
centers in every nook and corner of the country/world. Most of the
Universities are already doing so. If you ask me, India should take the
lead and make education a global 'commodity'. Not the privilege of
some who can afford. Institutes like IIMs have the opportunity and
capacity to lead this revolution. Eventually, the future competition
will drive down the prices, make quality education available and
affordable for all.

In my opinion, the capacity in IIMs and similar schools should be
increased 20 fold, not 10 seats or 20 seats per year. If not a full
IIMs, why can't we have a specialized center in each of our cities? Why
not in Visakhapatnam? Guntur? Why not in Kakinada? etc..

Given the size of our country and the growth opportunities we have, I
think we are not producing enough professionals - especially in
management areas.

What do you think?

Regards,
Chandu

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