Comments on Haq's Musings: KSBL World Class Business Education in Pakistan

Here's an Op Ed by HEC Chair Javaid Laghari pu...

2012-01-16T22:08:16.743-08:00

Here's an Op Ed by HEC Chair Javaid Laghari published in The Express Tribune:

There has been a quiet revolution in the last two years, particularly in improved quality, access and relevance, which are the cornerstones of the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

Quality is a ‘process’ and cannot be improved overnight by dialling ‘Q’. Quality enhancement cells have been established in 81 universities which will monitor and ‘own’ quality and report to the HEC’s QA (Quality Assurance) division. Six accreditation councils, including in business and computing, have been established, and these will accredit professional programmes. An institutional performance evaluation (IPE) process has begun, and by next year, the universities will be given a scorecard on good governance. For the first time ever, universities and programmes are being ranked as per international standards, and the results will be published by the end of the year. A two-day orientation of newly-appointed vice-chancellors (VCs), facilitated by two British VCs and one American university president, was organised — also for the first time — to inculcate leadership and to improve quality in governing higher educational institutes.

Accessibility to university education among the population is now 7.8 per cent, and not 5.1 per cent as implied by Dr Tahir, and we are well on our way to reaching 10 per cent by 2015 as per the education policy, despite a 10 per cent cut in higher education funding. Pakistan spends 1.7 per cent of its GDP on education, and only six other countries in the world spend less. Of this, 0.22 per cent is spent on higher education and not 0.3 per cent as the article incorrectly states. Under these circumstances, the HEC has done wonders!

What the writer fails to mention is the new emphasis on ‘knowledge exchange’. Ten offices of research, innovation and commercialisation (ORIC) have been established this year, and 20 more are in the pipeline to bridge the gap between university research and industry. With a 30 per cent increase in research publications and PhD dissertations in the last two years, a focus on relevant research and a new programme to establish incubators and technology parks, the Pakistani higher education sector is on its way to become an economic powerhouse in the next two years.

This is the soft and quiet revolution taking place at our universities which is already becoming visible and changing the lives of millions of youth who are the beneficiaries of higher education in Pakistan.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/290255/a-quiet-revolution-in-higher-education/

Hasnain: "IBA apparently charges a very high ...

2012-01-04T09:13:06.618-08:00

Hasnain: "IBA apparently charges a very high fee.."

As far as I know, IBA's quality business education is quite a bargain at just Rs. 200,000 a year, less than a third of the tuition & fees at private schools like LUMS and KSBL etc.

The Dean of KSBL frenquently visits IBA, he is pla...

2012-01-04T09:01:59.612-08:00

The Dean of KSBL frenquently visits IBA, he is planning to have his first batch of MBA class exclusively from IBA and LUMS BBA programs. The advantage of KSBL is that as soon as the student gets enrolled, he will is earmarked for an employer, who will fund his studies and will employ him on the completion of studies.
IBA apparently charges a very high fee but interesting for you all would be that currently the full MBA batch and at least 50% of the BBA batch is on full scholarship (I, myself am a student of IBA )

Najam:"KSBL appears a good prospect,but it is...

2012-01-04T08:18:06.717-08:00

Najam:"KSBL appears a good prospect,but it is too premature to declare that it will provide world class business education"

I agree that it's premature to say KSBL WILL be world class.

But big name affiliations do matter.

In IBA's case, the affiliation with UPenn's Wharton Biz School, the top-ranked Biz school in US, made a big difference in attracting best faculty to teach top-notch curriculum.

KSBL's relationship with Cambridge's Judge school should similarly help it attract top talent to teach a strong curriculum.

KSBL appears a good prospect,but it is too prematu...

2012-01-04T08:15:50.260-08:00

KSBL appears a good prospect,but it is too premature to declare that it will provide world class business education
The faculty is not yet known,and the amount of money they will charge has not been declared,but it will certainly be out of reach of students from parents of middle class(your favourite topic)

If the fees will be exorbitant than siblings of rich class will be seen there ,who generally join the Business teaching institutes more for fun ,than anything else.

Presently in Karachi,there are few top class business education centres apart from IBM like SZABIST,CBM,BIZTEK,IQRA,PAF KIET,DHA.; DADABHOY;.BAHRIA etc .

A large number of students comprise of working class,who want to do MBA for better prospects ,as this qualification is prerequisite for most of the advertised jobs.

Engineering graduates also prefer to have additional qualification of Business Administration instead of doing Masters in Engineering disciplines.But I haven't seen any Engineer abandoning his profession and switching over.

Has anyone heard about MBA in Rural management &am...

2012-01-04T01:30:13.478-08:00

Has anyone heard about MBA in Rural management & Agribusiness(New Programme) offered by KIIT School of Rural Management??

Having achieved highest standards for its flagship programme of MBA (Rural Management), KSRM is now moving closer to realizing its vision to become a leading global academic institution in the field of Rural Management.
Find out more about the course and other details on their website. Admissions open for Batch 2012-14

http://www.ksrm.ac.in/pages/home/home.htm

Here's a Businessweek story about India's MBA test for evaluating job seekers:

In five months, the MBA will lose its status as a universally accepted credential for management jobs. In India, at least, b-school grads who want those jobs will also have to take a test.

On Feb. 20, the All-India Management Association (AIMA) will roll out the Management Aptitude Skill Test (MAST), a screening test designed to determine whether business school graduates in India are qualified for jobs, according to several published reports.

The details are a little sketchy, and my efforts to reach someone at the AIMA were unsuccessful. But AIMA President Sanjiv Goenka, told the Financial Chronicle that the test was designed to help students. “The idea is to give aspiring management graduates a level playing field. It is not always possible for companies to reach out to all the IIMs and other B-schools while hiring. In the process, talented students are left out.”

Here’s what I know about the new test. It’s computer based and 150-minutes long, and it will test the candidate’s “management aptitude, domain knowledge in areas of specialisation like finance, marketing, HR, international business, operations & IT and assess their personality traits such as leadership, handling stress, decision-making skills, stability and teamwork abilities,” according to the Economic Times.

The Times is reporting that a number of big employers are already on board, including the India-based operations of Deloitte, MetLife, Pfizer, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Nokia, Lenovo, and TATA Communications. But the Financial Chronicle quotes an AIMA director general, Rekha Seth, as saying the number of companies planning to use the test goes well beyond that. “There has been overwhelming response from both companies and b-schools,” Sethi told the publication. “We are looking at 200 corporate endorsements and have already got 100 so far.”

It's unclear to me if the test will be required by these companies, as part of the application process perhaps, or if it will be optional. It's also unclear if the scores will be publicly available (so employers can mine the database for high-scorers) or if the candidates themselves can direct the scores to specific employers (similar to the GMAT and other standardized tests). Other unknowns include whether candidates with degrees from schools outside of India will need to take the test for Indian jobs, and if the test will be required for jobs in India only or for any position for which a graduate of an Indian b-school is being considered.
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I think most employers, even if they sometimes complain about MBA grads who need to be retrained after they're hired, still assume that business schools, whatever their flaws, do impart the basic knowledge and skills needed to thrive in a corporate setting. (If they didn't believe that they wouldn't pay them six-figure starting salaries.) So I'm left wondering whether something like this, while it might make sense in a country where the quality of business school education is uneven, would be necessary or useful in the U.S. and Europe, where programs are more established.
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In a perfect world (perfect from an employer's perspective) all candidates would have internships before a hiring decision is made, giving the employer a few months to put them through their paces. But it's an imperfect world. A test is an admittedly poor substitute for an internship, but is it better than nothing at all? Is it better than "Trust me, he'll do a great job"?

http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/blogs/mba_admissions/archives/2010/09/indian_mba_grads_face_hiring_test.html

Anon: "In India ISB(1 year course) has a fee ...

2012-01-03T21:34:24.172-08:00

Anon: "In India ISB(1 year course) has a fee of about 15 lac INR and a average placement of 17 lac INR."

The IBA, being a public business school, is a real bargain at just Rs. 200,000 a year. About a third of the business schools offering MBAs are in public sector.

http://www.iba.edu.pk/fee.asp

As to private business schools that charge upwards of Rs 500,000 a year, most students there usually come from wealthy families which pay for their education, while deserving students get scholarships rather than student loans.

Recent IBA MBAs received on average monthly salary...

2012-01-03T21:14:51.761-08:00

Recent IBA MBAs received on average monthly salary of Rs42,000, or Rs 500,000 per year,

exactly 700,000X 2=14 lacs +interest charges=16 lacs to be paid by a salary of 500,000 ie after tax and living expenses it is very unlikely a student will have more than 1.5 lacs surplus to service his 14 lac debt.

In India ISB(1 year course) has a fee of about 15 lac INR and a average placement of 17 lac INR.It still takes students a good 5 years to repay debts taken at much lower interest rates and serviced with a much higher salry relative to the size of the debt....

Anon: "The key indicator of a B school is the...

2012-01-03T20:33:54.483-08:00

Anon: "The key indicator of a B school is the placements.In the US Wharton stanford,kellogs etc can charge $50,000/yr because the placements are $200,000/annum."

The recent average salaries of mba grads from top 15 US business schools ranges from $115,000 to $135,000 a year....about 2-3 times the annual cost of attending these schools.

http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/mba/compensation.asp

Anon:"I don't think the average salary at LUMS is anywhere near 10-15lacs PKR/annum."

Recent IBA MBAs received on average monthly salary of Rs42,000, or Rs 500,000 per year, according to IBA Dean Dr. Ishrat Husain as quoted in Express Tribune.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/301378/iba-says-goodbye-to-batch-of-2011-barely-out-of-school-and-landing-in-their-first-jobs/

Rs 700,000 (about US$ 8000) is pretty cheap for a ...

2012-01-03T20:20:09.613-08:00

Rs 700,000 (about US$ 8000) is pretty cheap for a world class business education, especially when compared with $40,000 to $50,000 for similar education in the West.

The key indicator of a B school is the placements.In the US Wharton stanford,kellogs etc can charge $50,000/yr because the placements are $200,000/annum.

I don't think the average salary at LUMS is anywhere near 10-15lacs PKR/annum.

The students will just be burdened with debt which will haunt them for atleast 10 years!

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/iim-ahmedabad-ra...

2012-01-03T17:17:24.392-08:00

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/iim-ahmedabad-ranked-2nd-best-school/885901/

Anon: "and the fees will be?" Regular <...

2012-01-03T13:52:44.473-08:00

Anon: "and the fees will be?"

Regular tuition and fees at KSBL will add up to about Rs. 700,000 per year. There will be an endowment fund to pay for some scholarships based on merit and need.

Rs 700,000 (about US$ 8000) is pretty cheap for a world class business education, especially when compared with $40,000 to $50,000 for similar education in the West.

http://www.ksbl.org/mba/full-time-mba/admissions/

and the fees will be?

2012-01-03T13:50:52.301-08:00

and the fees will be?