Wide angle: Degrees from IIMs - good move?
Country’s coveted management institutes, Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), have been demanding this for long. And HRD ministry looks like considering it seriously this time. The proposal to replace diploma with degrees is under consideration by the ministry, and a final decision is expected soon.
While the move will help IIMs attract students globally, will it change anything in curriculum? Can the distance between a degree and diploma be bridged only with a change of name? What happens to those who have already graduated from IIMs? IIMs to start giving degrees - good move?
There may be different aspects related to the move, however, both the ministry and the IIM directors have been on the same page on the need to position the IIMs on a global platform, where replacing diplomas with degrees would have a crucial role to play. A statutory change in nomenclature would turn PG Diploma in Management (PGDM) into MBA degree and fellowship will become PhD. Read more
The issue came to the forefront once again at a review meeting of MHRD officials with directors of all IIMs at IIM-Lucknow on June 27. The HRD minister Kapil Sibal is of the opinion that a deemed university status would enable IIMs to award degrees. Read more
Despite their elite status as the country’s premier B-Schools, the IIMs cannot award degrees, as they have not been set up by an act of Parliament, nor do they enjoy deemed university status. The IIMs have been set up under the Societies Registration Act. The right to award degrees rests only with universities and equivalent institutions such as IITs, set up by an act of Parliament or state legislatures. Deemed universities under the UGC Act can also grant degrees. Read more
While IIM grads are known to be in demand in the corporate world, the world diploma seems to robbing the qualification of its desirable global appeal. An IIM official told India Today that almost 60 per cent students miss better job opportunities abroad because of the word diploma in their certificates. Besides this, diploma holders are not accepted by foreign universities for pursuing research studies. As diploma is not an internationally recognized qualification, it’s believed that many oversees students will be attracted to IIMs if the institute is allowed to award degrees instead of diplomas.
The change would also require a modification in syllabus, but that is not a big deal, said an IIM official in a media report. Read more
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