AICTE to pull the plug on Part-time Management Courses
India is the epicenter of excellent management education. If you seek to provide your career a distinct edge, a full-time MBA is the most suitable option for you. But if you're already working in the corporate world and not ready to discontinue your career growth, then an executive MBA or part time MBA program comes to your help. Many top MBA institutes offer a variety of part time or executive programs for budding professionals to consolidate their careers further. Pursuing executive or part time MBA courses can let you enjoy a number of advantages. The flexible timing to attend classes attracts many professionals. The majority of classes are conducted in the evening, so you can study and work at the same time. There is no need to disrupt your daily working life. Students can acquire new skills to enrich their present knowledge base without leaving the job. They will get the opportunity to deal with real-life problems through various case studies and find out solutions to these problems instantly. As most MBA courses are costly, you can manage that expense easily while continuing the job. The cost of study is also distributed over a substantial time period. But All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has decided to pull the plug on part-time management courses in business schools across the country.
The country's technical education regulator has said it will "not permit any technical education programme to be run as either evening or part-time programme in any technical institution".[/i][/b][/i][/b]
According to a senior AICTE official, this means the council will not approve new part-time MBA programmes or allow fresh admissions in existing ones from the next academic year. Many B-schools are misusing the facility and running other programmes on the pretext of a part-time MBA programme. They are not working within the regulated framework, which prompted us to take this step. There are around 2,500 AICTE-approved management schools. The B-schools concerned are unhappy. "Experienced people learn management much better than fresher. We have around 240 students for masters courses in management, finance, human resource and information management. We have already requested the vice-chancellor of the University of Mumbai to take up the matter with AICTE," said Suresh Ghai, director, K J Somaiya Institute of Management and Research. A clutch of management institutes in Mumbai are planning to file a public interest suit in the Bombay High Court. The directors of three B-schools said this would make higher education unaffordable and prevent growth and development of many working professionals.