Government against privatizing education, says Sibal

Bangalore: The government will not allow education to be privatized as institutions have to serve a societal purpose, but it was not against "private participation" in the education sector, union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said on Thursday.

"I think privatization is a very dirty word. We do not believe in privatizing education. Educational institutions have to serve a societal purpose," Sibal told reporters here.

Clarifying that the government was not against private participation in the education sector, Sibal said private participation was different from privatization, which serves private goal.

"I do not mean there should be no private participation in education. It is different from privatization. Private participation must serve public goal," Sibal said on the margins of the 36th annualconvocation of the state-run Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore (IIM-B) here.

In this context, Sibal referred to the government's efforts to set right the education system to make sure stakeholders served a societal purpose.

"The ownership of educational institutions should vest in stakeholders, which includes government, private sector, faculty, youth, civil society, leaders who have achieved excellence in their fields and the student community. That is how we view education," Sibal said.

To facilitate a greater participation of the private sector in higher education, especially in professional courses, the minister said the government was changing the regulations of the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE). 

"We have made the whole system far more transparent and accountable. We want the institutions to go through a self-disclosure process instead of an inspector raj," Sibal asserted.

Referring to the latest national census, which has shown the population at 1.21 billion, an increase of 181 million people in the last decade, Sibal said the government was looking forward to management institutions such as IIM-B and IIM-A (Ahmedabad) to provide solutions to achieve full literacy in this decade.

"I firmly believe we are at the cusp in the next 10 years to achieve full literacy in the country. There will be lot of pressure on educational institutions, more so as transformation of society is taking place. We will need management solutions to very complex problems," Sibal said in the presence of IIM-B chairman Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries Ltd.

According to the latest census, literacy in the country has gone up to 74 percent from 64.8 percent during the past decade, with female literacy to 65 percent from 53 percent and male literacy to 82 percent from 75 percent.

Noting that education was becoming multi-disciplinary and therefore management institutions could not function as standalone, Sibal said they have to interact with the government and diverse sectors such as health, education, agriculture and small and medium enterprise (SME).

"You need management solutions at every level. I don't think society has recognized the importance of management and in creating those solutions. We cannot move forward unless you manage things in a holistic and progressive way," Sibal pointed out.

source:http://indiaedunews.net/Today/Government_against_privatizing_education,_says_Sibal_13785/

Relax, and pick a job

Let them decide: Students of the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore, discuss placement offers.

For years, the placement season at the prestigious Indian Institutes of Management has been a race of sorts. With each trying to outdo the other, using it as a yardstick for greater excellence, several parameters have been used to judge who fared better: slot zero figures (this slot would have the most coveted companies coming in), number of days over which the process was held, international offers, lateral placement figures, and, of course, the all-important and headline-generating pay packets.

IIM-Bangalore, a few years ago, decided to stop disclosing the salaries. While some say the reason behind this was to protect the privacy of students, IIM-B officials have reiterated that they had taken the decision because they did not want to give primacy to pay packets. Indeed, news reports about freshers and people with less than two years of work experience taking home mind-boggling pay packets — it was reported in a newspaper that at one of the IIMs the pay crossed Rs. 1 crore per month this year — was also projecting a wrong image about management education, and what the B-schools are all about.

While most other IIMs do mention the pay packets, many have stopped putting a face to the pay. Most reporting around this has been more or less vague and unsubstantiated. “It is the media that has an unholy obsession with the pay, not the management of the IIMs. While we want our students to do well, it has not dominated our discourse on jobs or placements,” says a professor from IIM-B, who did not wish to be named.

So in 2009, IIM-A decided to opt out of the fierce placements race by institutionalising what it called the cohort-based system. This means that previous yardsticks of slots and number of placement days could not be applied to it. In the cohort-based system, companies visit on weekends through a longer period, in clusters. These clusters could be based on company profiles such as consulting, finance or investment banking. Held over something like a month, students can be at ease.

New tweaks to old process

IIM-B, this year, in a smaller way opted out of the numbers game. Though it did not go the IIM-A way, it decided to fix the number of placement days before hand. Though in 2010, placements had been completed in five days, and every year is compared to the previous one (this is often closely watched as it is regarded as a measure of how the job market is doing), this year it was strung out over 10 days. Pre-fixed, the placements went on at a relaxed pace, points out P.D. Jose, Chairperson, Placements, at IIM-B.

Dismantling the ‘slot-based' classification process, where recruiters were clustered into slots depending on their demand amongst students of that batch, they went for a more relaxed process where all sort of recruiters were invited on all the placement days. Some prioritising was done; however, the rigorous slot system was removed. Besides being stressful for students, companies too compete fiercely for the top slot and institutes find it difficult to please them all.

Typically, 30 companies would come in slot zero, making it difficult for students to attend interviews and forcing them to make on-the-spot decisions. “After all, it is a huge career decision we are talking about here. We felt it is necessary to give students a bit of breathing space to be able to think it over, and also allow them to give multiple interviews and choose from their options. It shouldn't just be about the numbers, we took a decision,” explains a key IIM-B official.

They divided the bay into two and parallel interviews took place, and students were allowed to take a shot through the day. There was no pressure on them to hurry up, and in fact students were allowed to take as much time as they wanted.

“In the older system, because everyone was racing against a deadline to complete placements and to look good on the comparison charts, everybody was under pressure to finish fast. That had just vanished,” an IIM professor, who was not associated with the placements, commented. “It was certainly more relaxed and good to watch,” he added.

This year, all 332 students who sat for placements received offers, of which over 100 were placed beforehand during the lateral placement process. The ‘laterals' are students who have had prior work experience. Over the years the numbers of students with work experience has been on the rise. In the batch of 2011, only 28 per cent of the batch comprised freshers and another six per cent had worked for less than a year.

Of the batch of 348 (the largest ever at IIM), 16 had opted out of placements, and two groups among these (comprising around five students) are incubating an innovation or an innovative business idea with the NSR Cell that provides support to start-ups, sources told The Hindu.

Though the total placements was from 105 companies, 130 had evinced interest. As far as trends go, it was work as usual, with finance leading the pack at 36 per cent, followed by consulting at 31. Sales and marketing made up for 21 per cent.

How other IIMs did

IIM-Ahmedabad completed its placements in early March, having commenced in mid-February. Divided into four clusters held on four days, the placement has been successful and all students have been placed.

The others, which are still sticking to the traditional placement process, are more comparable. Among the older IIMs, IIM-Calcutta wrapped up its process in five days, placing all 388 students. Here, slot zero offers were up from 90 to 139.

IIM-Kozhikode saw the total offers go up to 305 from 265 last year (the number of offers per company rose to 3.37 from 2.66 in 2010, according to news reports). IIM-Indore, which wrapped up its placements last month, saw the number of offers increase to 241 this year, from 235 in the previous year.

However, the newer IIMs are still picking up and are yet to complete the placement process.

source:http://www.hindu.com/edu/2011/03/21/stories/2011032150660100.htm

Finance dominates IIM-Calcutta placements

The finance sector ruled the finalplacements process at the Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta (IIM-C) with renowned firms from the field making up 31.3 percent of the offers.

"IIM-Calcutta is known as the 'Finance Campus of India', and this year the finance sector contributed the largest number of offers, nearly 31.3 percent. Finance was closely followed by the consulting and marketing sectors," Pritish Gandhi, recruitmentcoordinator, IIM-C, told media persons here.

"International investment banks like UBS, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Bank of America hired students from IIM-C. Students have already received pre-placement offers (PPO) from firms like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Scotland," said Gandhi.

"This year Japanese Investment Bank and Daiwa Securities recruited exclusively from IIM-Calcutta and extended offers to six students," said Gandhi

Consulting firms like Mckinsey and Company, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Bain and Company and AT Kearney and Essex Lake Group also recruited exclusively from IIM-Calcutta during the March 3-7 final placement process.

"All 383 students who participated in the placement process had successfully received job offers by the end of the fifth day," said Gandhi.

For students with considerable work-experience, lateral placements in senior positions saw a huge increase of 57.6 percent in the number of offers, up from 92 last year to 145 this year.

More than 50 firms participated in the lateral placement process, including recruiters like Barclays Bank, Olam International, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Shell.

They hired in "unprecedented numbers" after modest hiring or completely giving a miss to placements during the recession period, said Gandhi.

The highlight of the lateral placement process was the participation of private equity firm Gaja Capital, which recruited exclusively from IIM-Calcutta and selected three students. Additionally, MCap Fund Advisors also visited the campus for lateral recruitments.

The IIM-Calcutta this year also introduced "deferred placements" process wherein students who want to pursue entrepreneurship, work in social sector, join a government organization involved in national service or pursue higher education are allowed to sign out of current placement process and join it anytime in the next 3 years.

source:http://indiaedunews.net/IIM/Finance_dominates_IIM-Calcutta_placements_13670/

IIM-Calcutta to boost research and upgrade lab

The Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta (IIM-C) plans to utilize the Rs.20 crore special budgetary grant to help students do research in global finance markets and to upgrade its financial research and trading lab.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced the special grant to the IIM-C in the union budget he presented to the Lok Sabha on Monday.

"The money will help us upgrade our financial research and trading laboratory into a world class facility. The fund will also help students for further research in global finance markets," Ashok Banerjee, professor of finance and head of the lab, said on Monday.

The lab was set up on November 18, 2008, to support advanced applied research in financial markets and equip finance managers with the mathematical and conceptual theories.

"Lot of money is required for further research in the global finance markets. So, this money will help the students to a large extent," Banerjee told the sources.

"The grant will help us obtain important softwares and global market data. Right now this is going on a small scale. The special allocation will give a boost to our upgradation and research projects," he said. IANS

Source:http://indiaedunews.net/IIM/IIM-Calcutta_to_boost_research_and_upgrade_lab_13611/

Environment ministry rejects proposal for IIT in Indore

New Delhi: A proposal for the setting up of anIndian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Indore has been put on hold by the Ministry of Environment and Forests for the time being.

Indore currently is also home to an Indian Institute of Management (IIM).

The government of Madhya Pradesh had sought permission from the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the environment ministry for acquiring 80 hectares of forestland for the establishment of the proposed IIT. 

The proposed IIT had been sanctioned to the state of Madhya Pradesh by the Human Resource Development ministry in the eleventh five year plan.

The approval of the government under the Forest Conservation Act is required for the diversion of forestland for any purpose, except for one hectare of forestland for the construction of building that are of public importance such as schools, hospitals, community halls and dispensaries.

The proposal for acquiring the land for the IIT in Indore was rejected by the FAC as it said that the diversion of too much of forestland will damage the ecological balance in and around the area of Indore. 

Had the proposal been accepted by the environment ministry, Indore would have acquired the distinction of being the only city in India to have both an IIM as well as an IIT.

The FAC stated in its report that the proposal for diverting the forestland situated in the vicinity of an important city for the establishment of a non-specific project such as an IIT without taking up a detailed exercise for examining all feasible alternatives would be rejected.

The proposal would have meant the cutting down of around 7,164 trees in the forestland that has a density of 89.55 trees per hectare. An official informed that the area where the proposed IIT would have been set up is a reserved forest land of good quality and there is not much good forestland around Indore.

Another reason for the proposal being rejected was that the committee found that the land in Hasalpur village that was indicated in the proposal for compensatory afforestation was found to be not suitable for raise plantation and no alternative land for afforestation had been mentioned in the proposal.

source:http://indiaedunews.net/IIT/Environment_ministry_rejects_proposal_for_IIT_in_Indore_13575/

Coming Up - MBA,BE/ B.Tech. degree programs

The School of Management under Pondicherry University has invited applications for admission to its two-year fulltime MBA programme. The selection is based on IIM-CAT 2010 score, group discussion and personal interview. Apply online before February 18. Web site: www.pondiuni.edu.in

DOEACC Centre, Calicut, will conduct various PG diploma courses including embedded system design, embedded wireless and mobile applications, VLSI design and embedded hardware design, information security and system, administration and auditing, software technology, industrial automation system design during February and March. For more details visit www.doeacccalict.ac.in. Phone: 0495-2287266.

LM Thapar School of Management under Thapar University, Patiala, has invited applications for admission to its MBA programme. BE/ B.Tech. degree holders in any branches or M.Sc./ MA in mathematics / statistics / computer science/ electronics / physics / operation research/ information science / IT or MCA with at least 60 per cent marks are eligible to apply. The selection is based on IIM-CAT 2010 score or entrance test, group discussion and interview. Last date: February 11. Web site: www.thapar.edu.

The Indian Institute of Management, Indore, has invited applications for admission to its one-year executive PG programme in management. Graduates with valid CAT/ GMAT score and five years of managerial/ professional experience can apply. Last date: April 20. Web link: www.iimidr.ac.in/iim/pages/programmes_main/epgp.php.

The National Brain Research Centre (Deemed University), Manesar, Gurgaon, Hariyana, has invited applications for admission to its Ph.D. (neuroscience) and integrated Ph.D. in neuroscience programmes. Last date: February 15. Web site: www.nbrc.ac.in.

Faculty of Engineering under Avinashilingam Deemed University for Women has invited applications for engineering entrance examination (AEEE-2011) for admission to its BE, ME programmes in various branches.

Eligibility for BE course is a pass in Plus Two examination with physics, chemistry and Mathematics as compulsory subjects along with computer science / biology with at least 50 per cent marks in aggregate. The application fee is Rs.600. Last date: March 28. Entrance test will be held on April 3. Web site: www.avinuty.ac.in, www.auengg.com.

Apply online for CUSAT-CAT 2011 before February 4. Web site: www.cusat.nic.in.

Applications are invited for INLAKS scholarships. Last date: April 15, 2011. Web site: www.inlaksfoundation.org.

Army College of Medical Sciences, Delhi, has invited applications from the wards of serving and ex-Army personnel for admission to MBBS course.

Total seats: 100. Eligibility: At least 50 per cent marks in aggregate in Plus Two examination with physics, chemistry, biology as subjects. Web site: www.ipu.ac.in, www.theacms.in, www.awes.nic.in.

Army College of Dental Sciences, Secunderabad, has invited applications from the wards of serving and ex-Army personnel for admission to its BDS course. Total seats: 40. Web site: www.armycods.in.

Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship (XIME), Bangalore, has invited applications for admission to its PG diploma in management programme and executive PGDM programme. Graduates with at least 50 per cent marks are eligible for admission to PGDM programme.

The selection is on the basis of XAT/ CAT/ ATMA score, group discussion and interview. Web site: www.xime.org. Phone: 080-28528597 / 98.

GOPAKUMAR KARAKONAM


source : http://www.hindu.com/edu/2011/01/25/stories/2011012550070200.htm