B-school students against IIM fee cut, additional seats

Students of various business schools in the country seem to disapprove the move by the ministry of human resources development to reduce the fees of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and increase the number seats.

However the students welcomed the ministry's proposal to hold an all India common management entrance examination.

Surekha Subramaniyam, a student of the College of Business Studies (CBS), Delhi, who was in Ahmedabad to participate in 'Chaos Masala-2004', the annual event of IIM, Ahmedabad, said, "I do not understand the logic behind slashing the fees. This will affect the development of the infrastructure and facilities of IIMs. The brand name of IIMs is at stake."

Subramaniyam said, "The student-teacher ratio at IIMs is an important factor. There is no need to change a perfect system, while it functions at its best."

Subramaniyam said, "The ministry's decision to hold common entrance examination can leave the institutes more susceptible to question paper leak."

Urooj Sidra, another student of CBS, said, "The ministry's plan to reduce the fees is a bad idea. It would put pressure on the resources. Students can earn ten times of the amount paid on fees once they pass out of the institute. Moreover, bank loans are easily available to the IIM students at cheaper rates."

Sidra said, "Conducting a common entrance examination for the management institutes is a good idea. Students don't have to fill up numerous forms for different management institutes and shell out huge amounts."

Vikram Rentala, a fourth year student of IIT, Mumbai, said, "Reduction in the fees at IIMs will hamper the functioning of the institute."

He said, "Changing the student-teacher ratio is not a good option. Effective learning in a classroom can be facilitated only if the number of students is kept low. Only the best students are selected to the IIMs and if this criteria is compromised, quality will suffer."

Shagun Tyagi, of the Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management (LBSIM) said, "The fees should not be reduced. Educational loans are now available at zero per cent interest rates. The students may have to compromise on the infrastructure facilities if the fees are reduced. If the ministry wants to concentrate on education, they should concentrate on the primary and graduate-level education in the country."

Visesh Bajaj, a second-year student of LBSIM, said the amount of money spent by IIM students on course fees is very lees compared with the returns after two years and if the student-teacher ratio is changed, it will affect the quality of education.