Speaking at the formal launch of the Mohali campus of the Indian School of Business (ISB) yesterday, the second ISB campus in the country after Hyderabad, the Union Finance Minister, P Chidambaram, said he was happy with ISB’s decision to come up with its Mohali campus, and, hoped more such world-class institutions would be set up across the country.
Expressing anguish over the present education scenario, Chidambaram said, “My deepest regret is that more and more colleges and universities are turning out to be teaching shops.”
Blaming poor infrastructure, untrained and unqualified teachers , poor methodology and pedagogy adopted to teach the students, Chidambaram said the institutes are just churning out graduates.
He stressed that, however, the need of the hour was to have more world-class institutions.
Commenting on the quality of education , the FM said quality comes at a cost.
“I am happy that today banks are funding education. 24 lakh students have got education loans from different banks and the outstanding amount is Rs 52000 cr. I am happy that many students are able to get loans because lender know the loan applier has the paying capacity.”
The quality education, according to Chidambaram, will help develop quality human resources.
Commenting on the exchange of human resources between the government and business houses, Chidambaram said the government is trying to attract businessmen, academicians , scholars to help government do its work. Nanadan Nilekani,the UIDAI Chairman, being the latest example.
The Mohali campus of ISB became operational earlier this year with the commencement of the ISB’s flagship one year Post Graduate Programme (PGP) in Management in April. The present class comprises a total of 767 students, with 197 students studying at Mohali and 570 at the Hyderabad campus. The Mohali campus is spread across 70 acres,
The genesis of the ISB’s campus at Mohali dates back to the Prime Minister of India’s vision of developing a ‘Knowledge city’ in Mohali that would include a ‘premier management institute’.
This vision was realised with the support from the Government of Punjab, generous contributions from four leading industrialists from the region.
The ISB operates ‘One School’ with two campuses in Hyderabad and Mohali and has a unified governance structure, with the ISB Executive Board overseeing and supporting both the campuses..
The Mohali campus furthers the ISB’s focus on strengthening research and has four institutes focusing on critical areas - Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Max Institute of Healthcare Management, Munjal Global Manufacturing Institute and Punj Lloyd Institute of Physical Infrastructure Management. The school has also established academic associations with MIT Sloan School of Management to support the institutes in Manufacturing Excellence and Physical Infrastructure Management and The Fletcher School at Tufts University for Public Policy.
Meanwhile, The Wharton School has extended its support for the institute in Healthcare Management.
