The Corporatisation of Education

There has been a sea change in the way education is offered and delivered in India. Gone are the days where it was the sole propriety of government. While age-old institutions like a Mumbai University and Jadhavpur univeristy, or a Loyala college and JJ School of Arts, or a St Stephens college hold their heads high they have lost a lot of their lustre. No longer students are shy to do a diploma - which was a stigma in earlier days. I distinctly remember being advised by an elder when I got admission into an IIM that they offer a post-graduate diploma in management not an MBA!

Without any doubt it is government policies that saw this change. With participation by eminent educationists and a progressive outlook the government recognised that to fulfill the promise of universal and relevant education it must let the private enterprise participate. Add to this was changes in the global climate which meant opening of your educational doors to foreign universities. There will always be a debate whether they have done enough and whether the current policies are only half-baked. Yet with every year things have been progressively improving.

The first to capitalize on this have been family-owned businesses. The patriarchs of such families often wanted to give back to society for the good they have received. Lending the family name to an educational institution added to their stature. Leaving a few the infrastructure and quality was largely poor because of the restrictions posed by the government with regards to fee-structure and courses.

Over-time two things happened. One being that the second-generation in these families began to take interest in running these institutions. And two, the government over time began easing the restrictions it earlier imposed. The younger lot were higher educated, wished to bring better facilities and most importantly treated this as a business.

Then with the growth of the middle class, the booming of the economy (not taking into account the recessionary trends of the last six months) young entrepreneurs took to education like any other economic activity. We hear of young folks from IIT and IIM spurning corporate offers to start schools. There are numerous reports of successful executives of Indian origin returning from western countries to participate in the growth of this sector. And this includes setting up schools in rural areas.

If all this is happening what are the changes that need to be (or are being) done:

Gone are the days where only a course in engineering or medicine is being sought by parents/ students. Newer courses and curriculums are being designed that thrive on the interests of students as well as their employability. Courses in Arts, Dance, Design, RJ/DJ are not scorned anymore. The new mantra seems to be "make a career of what you like and you are good at". And educational institutions are listening and designing courses appropriately - thanks to the flexibility provided by government policies.

Sales & Marketing: Educational institutions for the first time are actively seeking out students; something we earlier saw foreign univ's do to allure students to join their campuses. Ads in local papers, bill-boards signs across the city, participation in educational fairs are commonly adopted by universities.

Branding: Attracting the best talent to join an institution goes a long way in gaining repute. Unlike other industries, education works best with what we refer to as reference-sales. The IIT's and IIM's are the best example of this. But remember it was built over time. There does not seem to be any short-cuts. The change, though, is that the management of these institutions have recognised the power of creating a brand and are working at it as a stated objective from day 1 rather than it being the result or off-shoot of good educational practices. The encouragement given to student participation in various co-curricular activities; holding of cultural festivals (with participation from other colleges) and moving up the ladder of the latest rankings in a survey are amongst the branding activities being done.

Industry association: For years we have envied how well connected western universities are with the industry. That is fast changing here too. And the impetus has come from the institution rather than the industry - with the latter gladly participating. Guest lectures by eminent professionals has been a practice for a long time. But here I refer to letting students have a hands-on experience as part of the curriculum or an offer to absorb many of the students at the end of a course. Some of the elite institutions have been following this practice for a while now but a full sponsorship of a course is a new trend. In growing sectors like Retail, TV Software etc. due to lack of trained professionals the industry is willing to collaborate with educational institutions in developing courses, participate in bringing industry practices and help placements at the end of the courses. It brings true synergy between them.

Finally, the power of the Alumni is being recognized now. A decade or so back the institution played a quiescent role in getting past students together or for that matter even expecting any participation with their current events. Again, this has changed. It is a matter of pride (always was) when an alumni has moved up the scale and now occupies a distinguished position; be it in business, arts, corporate-life or politics. Colleges are playing an active role in getting the alumni together by offering administrative support in the form of a space to operate, and designating someone from their team to coordinate with the various regional chapters. In a few institutions they even sponsor key events like a 10-year celebration by hosting the event. And what do they want in return: help in enhancing value, placements, sponsorship of programs and grants for various activities. All willingly done by the alumni.

This change is what I refer to as Corporatisation of Education.