What’s the future of management education

What’s the future of management education

B-schools have created courses that cater to the growing need for work-from-home skills, writes Ashish Munjal

31.08.2020 Education Times 

Even though everything may seem to be getting back on track, the pandemic has exposed the inertia towards change among management institutes in India. The COVID-19 effect on higher education, especially B-schools, is obvious and can be seen in terms of all academic processes coming to a halt midway. The impact of the coronavirus crisis on the future of management education can be seen in two aspects. First, what Bschools are doing to incorporate the evolving the situation, and second is how students need to prepare and choose the right B-school for a successful career in the ‘new normal’.

As we move ahead, B-schools and MBA aspirants will need to identify the untapped potential of the IT infrastructure in place. For which the aspirants need to demand and look out for B-schools that cater to a tech-first approach. This would mean a 360-degree advancement of learning and teaching practices, giving us freedom in times where brick and mortar are dormant factors of the education industry’s infrastructure.

Everything with a dash of technology

The initial redundancy check has thrown light on the unprecedented usage of the learning management system (LMS) at B-schools. These online portals have been in place for some years now, however, they were merely being used for projects, distributing reference materials, event calendars and student body updates. The pandemichas propelled the use of the LMS to reach a much wider audience and cater to an array of activities. This includes workshops or pre-courses, workfrom-home certifications, mock interviews and guest lectures. Now, B-schools are looking at online studying as an integral part of every course.

Post-COVID industry skills

Predominantly, there has been a rise in the need for strong networking capabilities, interpersonal leadership skills, digital marketing solutions, assertive communication and Work-from-home skills as per the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) 2020 Corporate Recruiters Survey.

As an MBA graduate, the most daunting question is around the employability factor and skill alignment with the opportunities available in the current job market. Catering to this issue, B-schools have created workshops, webinars and courses that specifically cater to the growing need for work-from-home skills and competencies. The future holds a lot of potential for MBA graduates as professionals in this technology and networking dominant scenario.

(The author is the co-founder of Sunstone Eduversity) Full report on educationtimes.com

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HC asks collector to reconsider plea for compassionate posting

HC asks collector to reconsider plea for compassionate posting

Madurai: 31.08.2020

Granting relief to a woman, Madras high court directed the Madurai collector to reconsider her application seeking compassionate appointment in the wake of her father’s death while in service. The court was hearing the plea filedby KIlayaraniwhosefather VKallanai,whowas a village assistantin Maduraidistrict,died in 2011.Kallanai keft behind his wife and three children including the petitioner.

The petitioner had submitted an application in 2012 seeking compassionate appointment.Itwas rejected by the collector through order dated March 17, 2020 on the ground that her brother Sakthiponnusamy got a government job in 2013. Ilayarani stated the brother got the job on merit and not on compassionate grounds. She stated her brother was living separately and did not support her family.

Justice R Suresh Kumar observed that according to the two GOs, the application for compassionate appointment of a legal heir can be considered if another legal heir who is in service prior to the death of an employee, is not supporting the family. The judge set aside the rejection order and directed the collector to reconsider the application. TNN

Govt can’t thwart higher studies of a doctor, says HC

Govt can’t thwart higher studies of a doctor, says HC

K.Kaushik@timesgroup.com

Madurai:  31.08.2020

Observing that the opportunity for a doctor to pursue further studies cannot be thwarted by anyone including the government, Madras high court directed the state government to accept the resignation of a doctor and return his original certificates so that he can pursue DNB General Surgery (Broad Speciality) course.

Petitioner Samjaison was appointed as assistant surgeon (general) at a primary health centre at Erwadi in Ramanathapuram district in 2019. After clearing the competitive exam, he got admission for the postgraduate course in an institution in Chennai. Though the petitioner tendered his resignation in July, it was not accepted and his certificates were not returned.

The additional government pleader submitted that according to the conditions in the appointment order, the petitioner should serve the government for three years and would not be permitted to pursue a PG course within two years. He further submitted that the petitioner is working at a PHC in a remote area and during the Covid-19 period basic medical facilities are to be given to the needy.

He further submitted that owing to the pandemic, the government is already struggling for want of more doctors and if the existing doctors are leaving, then it would further aggravate the situation. Justice R Suresh Kumar observed that there is no doubt that this was a very difficult period in our life time, where the whole world is struggling against Covid-19 pandemic situation. Doctors, supporting staff and paramedical staff are in the forefront in the fight against Covid-19.

The judge observed that though the services of the petitioner is required, there was a need for more qualified people with updation in the field of medicine since it will help the society at large. So saying, the judge granted relief to the petitioner to pursue further studies.

Fresh cases cross 6K, Coimbatore records most cases after Chennai Chennai Sees 16 More Covid Deaths, Followed By Salem (9) & Chengalpet (8)

Fresh cases cross 6K, Coimbatore records most cases after Chennai

Chennai Sees 16 More Covid Deaths, Followed By Salem (9) & Chengalpet (8)

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 31.08.2020

As a slew of unlock measures were adopted, Covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu have begun to peak again. On Sunday, Tamil Nadu saw 6,495 cases and 94 deaths.

Fresh infections were crossing 6,000 for the second day in a row after a month. Chennai registered more than 1,200 cases for the third day in a row. Of the 52,721 active cases in the state, the city accounts for a quarter of them (13,472).

Chennai also recorded the most deaths at 16, followed by Salem with nine and Chengalpet eight.

Chennai region, comprising Chennai city , Chengalpet, Thiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts continued to account for most of the deaths

(33), followed by western region (18).

Sunday’s tally of 2,154 new cases increased the total number of active cases in Chennai region to 19,804, while western region with 1,267 cases added on Sunday has 10,316 active cases.

Coimbatore recorded its highest-ever single day tally of 498 cases, remaining the district with the second-highest incidence in Tamil Nadu, next only to Chennai. Even as the total cases in the district inched closer to 15,000, the number of active cases remained at a little over 3,500. The recovery rate too touched a new high with 451 people being discharged. Though there are no new clusters, cases have steadily increased in hotspots such as Selvapuram and Gandhipuram, and spread to neighbouring localities.

The southern districts reported 953 new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, and Madurai’s tally crossed the 14,000 mark. Theni district reported the most cases, 176, in the south; Madurai had 134 cases.

The central region recorded its second-highest singleday spike of 754 cases pushing the tally past 31,000 The state, meanwhile, has continued to test aggressively, with more than 83,000 samples tested by RT-PCR method at approved labs on Sunday -- 12,000 more than a week ago on August 23.

The southern districts reported 953 new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, and Madurai’s tally crossed the 14,000 mark

Fee revision for professional courses unlikely this year

COVID CRISIS

Fee revision for professional courses unlikely this year

A.RaguRaman@timesgroup.com

Chennai: 31.08.2020

Due to the Covid-19 crisis, the fee committee is unlikely to revise the fee structure for professional courses for 2020-21. The students joining professional courses are likely to pay the existing fees for both government quota and management quota seats in self-financing colleges.

As per the existing fee structure, colleges are collecting ₹50,000 for government quota seats and ₹85,000 for management quota. For accredited courses, they can collect ₹55,000 for government quota and ₹87,000 for management quota. “People are suffering due to Covid-19 crisis. There is a view that any fee increase will create more hardships for parents. The fee committee will soon take a decision in this regard,” sources in the fee committee said.

Justice K Venkatraman took over as the head of the fee fixation committee in March.

The fee committee announced that it would revise fees for BE, BTech, BArch, ME, MTech, MArch, MBA and MCA courses for three years from 2020-21. It also invited individual proposals for fee hike from colleges with documents like balance sheet, auditor income, expenditure statements and books of accounts.

More than 500 colleges have applied to the committee seeking fee revision for next three years from 2020-21. The colleges sought fee hike ranging from 25% to 40% for all the courses.

Following the Covid-19 crisis, now several colleges are prepared to run the colleges with existing fee structure for 2020-21.

“I don’t think there is any possibility of a fee hike this year in view of the pandemic,” said M A Maluk Mohammed, director and correspondent of MAM College of Engineering and Technology in Trichy.

The colleges need to honour their commitment and pay salaries to their staffers. Colleges also need to engage students with online classes. It is going to be a challenging year, he added.

Buyers to get ₹52 lakh refund, compensation for unfinished flat

TNRERA ORDER ON UNREGISTERED PROJ

Buyers to get ₹52 lakh refund, compensation for unfinished flat

Yogesh.Kabirdoss@timesgroup.com

Chennai: 31.08.2020

Coming to the rescue of two homebuyers who had booked an apartment in an unregistered housing project, the Tamil Nadu Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TNRERA) has directed the project developer to refund the customer’s payment with interest.

The case pertains to a project titled “Aurum Pride Tower” at Padur, on the outskirts of Chennai, which the TNRERA order states is not registered. It is developed by Pacifica (Chennai) Infrastructure Co. Pvt. Ltd.

In a recent order, TNRERA adjudicating officer G Saravanan said documents furnished by homebuyers proved that the developer failed to complete the construction of the booked flat and handover its possession as promised. Therefore, the complainants (homebuyers) are entitled to get back the payment made with interest and compensation, it added. The developer concerned has been directed to refund the payment of ₹52.2 lakh to the complainants with an interest of 10% per annum till the repayment is made. Besides, the homebuyers have also been awarded compensation of ₹2.2 lakh towards mental agony and litigation expenses.

The order is significant as it gives homebuyers who invested in such unregistered housing projects an opportunity to seek relief from the state’s realty regulator. Such projects, which commenced before the implementation of RERA Act, could not deliver apartments and also failed to register with the TNRERA, after the Tamil Nadu government notified rules for real estate Act in June 2017.

The complainants said they had paid ₹52.2 lakh of the ₹53.9 lakh owed for booking the flat. After a sale agreement was entered between the homebuyer and builder in 2013, the developer executed a sale deed assuring to handover the flat in 2015. But, the construction was not completed and the (apartment) unit has not been handed over till date, the order added.

Despite attempts, Pacifica (Chennai) Infrastructure Co. Pvt. Ltd. did not respond to TOI queries for reaction.

The developer, in 2019, informed the homebuyers that construction of the block in which a unit was booked can’t be completed and urged them to shift the booking to another block. The complainants sought to cancel the booking and sought a refund of the amount paid.

Buses to run half-full after 5 months

Buses to run half-full after 5 months

Masks A Must For Travelling; Offices To Have 100% Staff

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 31.08.2020

Five months after the first lockdown was announced to handle the Covid-19 pandemic, city streets will regain life starting Tuesday as bus services will resume and malls, hotels will reopen. Offices have been permitted to function with 100% staff in attendance. Metro rail services will also resume on September 7 and Chennai will no longer be the city with the most restrictions in the country as only colleges, schools, cinemas and parks will remain closed.

As the city continues to log more than 1,000 fresh Covid-19 cases daily, MTC authorities, malls and hotel managements will take precautions to ensure safety of patrons. Measures — a mix of technology and manual enforcement — will be taken to prevent crowding and ensure social distancing in buses, malls, hotels and metro trains.

Anticipating a huge rush of commuters on the first day, MTC will run its entire fleet of 3,000 buses. A transport department official said due to social distancing restrictions, they will be running more buses. “We will first see the crowd, and based on that, we will increase services in the subsequent days.”

Buses can take in only 50% passengers and none can travel standing, and everyone must wear masks. “Buses have 44 seats, so now only 22 passengers can board and only one person can sit in a two-seater, in order to maintain social distancing,” said a senior official from the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC). The crew will wear masks and gloves, and there will be a hands-free sanitiser dispenser stand at the entrance of every bus for the public to use.

Until further government orders, MTC buses will not ply in Chengalpet, Arakkonam, and areas outside the corporation limits.

Metro rail, which has already readied a standard operating procedure, is expected to finetune it based on fresh guidelines from the Centre. An official said issuing of tokens will be dispensed with and QR code-based ticketing will be introduced in addition to the smart cards to ensure contactless entry and exit at the stations. The services were suspended at the end of March.

Sources said services may be stopped earlier than usual. “We are yet to take a decision on what all SOPs to follow,’ said an official.

Making the most of the opportunity to resume business, star hotels have started to reassure its customers about their safety standards. Zubin Songadwala, general manager of ITC Grand Chola, said, “Our safe practices start with prearrival check-in, safe car ride, security personnel in PPE, hand sanitisers at touchpoints, luggage sanitisation, remodelled receptions with WelcomSeparators, deepcleaned and sanitised room allotment.” He also said restaurants will follow contactless dining while food will be delivered to rooms on sanitised IRD trolleys.