The Indian School of Business Management and Administration, one of India’s leading management institute, offers over 100 specialisations and management courses, specially designed for the working class. It has had 15,000 students in the last three years and 6,000 students in the last year alone. In an interview with The Hindu, Dr. Vinay Agrawal, executive director, ISBM, explains the concept of the fast track courses and the scope of distance learning in India.
What was the concept behind the fast track, short-term courses?
I opened the institution mainly with the working class in mind. When a working class person wants to upgrade his qualification, he goes to a school where there is a fixed pattern of examination and certification. Here, he can appear for the examinations whenever he wants to. So, after six to eight months if he is done with his studies, he can appear for the examination.
What are the various courses offered at ISBM and how wide is their career scope?
We offer courses from the certificate level to the master’s level in the field of management. The career scope varies depending on the qualification and the previous background of each student. For example, a person who wants to upgrade his skills from being a graduate to a postgraduate, he gets that opportunity to further his career here.
What are the placement opportunities offered to ISBM graduates? What is the highest salary package this year?
Normally, all our students are working class people and have set incomes. We have a placement cell called bigvacancy.com which helps the students get the best job offers. Normally all our students get well placed. There is 100 per cent placement. This is because 90 per cent of our students who come to our institution were already working. The rest 10 per cent are consulted and advised for the best opportunities through our placement portal.
I cannot take the entire credit for the highest package because they were already employed before. For instance, if they have an experience of 15 years and they get a package of one crore per annum, then it is because of their experience and not the certification. But yes, we do have students who are drawing packages up to one crore per year also. We have got many students working in different companies such as Hero, Blackberry, Suntec at higher positions.
To what do you owe the success of ISBM?
It has been due to the continuous effort of each and every staff member in our organisation. It has been 12 years now and we are still working hard to make ISBM a big and successful brand. I will say that it has been a case of taking the right decisions at the right time.
What do you think of the growth of distance learning in India in the future?
Distance learning colleges in India have changed. Since the government has changed, they have also changed the policies of distance learning education. This is a matter of concern because right now they have no direction. They have got certain policies which are not even acceptable in any institution in India. Slowly and steadily there will be changes in the system and in the rules and regulations here. But right now, the rules and regulations are not clearly defined.
In a country like India, if the government supports distance learning, many students can get better education with more advanced infrastructure, technology and faculty. Distance learning is the way forward in a developing country like ours.
