Technical education (MBBS, BE) may still be the fancy of Nepali youngsters, but management education is gradually grabbing their imagination. And a growing number of B-Schools are fulfilling their needs.
Till a decade ago, management education was limited to a few colleges. The last 10 years saw an explosion of B-schools with the private sector taking the lead role. Along with their increasing numbers, Nepali B-schools are also going for specialization by offering MBA in banking and insurance.
A B – school is a management based institution that teaches a wide variety of subjects like accounting, administration, economics, finance, information systems, marketing, organizational behavior, public relations, strategy, human resource management and quantitative methods. Unlike the conventional study of management B-schools offer specialization related to various sectors of the economy.
There are more than 100 B-schools offering different programmes in management studies. Currently, there are two categories of B-schools in Nepal—those that are affiliated with domestic universities and others affiliated with foreign universities. The B-schools affiliated with Tribhuvan University (TU) offer undergraduate courses and BBA and BBS, other universities offer MBA and executive MBA courses. Most of B-schools in the country are affiliated with domestic universities like TU, Kathmandu University, Pokhara University, and Purbanchal University. Undergraduate management courses like Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) are normally a four –year programme while the MBA programme is of two years.
Of late, the country is seeing the entry of B-schools with international affiliation. Institutions like Kathmandu Frontier’s Associates (KFA) , the Lord Buddha Education Foundation (LBEF) , the centre of Professional studies (CoPRos) and the institute of Banking and Management Studies (IBMS) are offering undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in affiliation to various international universities.
With competition becoming fierce,B-school have started innovating.KFA has started MBA with specialization in banking and insurance. Established a year ago,Uniglobe College {UC} offers MBA with specialization in corporate finance, investment, banking, insurance and microfinance.
The IBMS offers three types of MBAs—Full time comprehensive MBA, flexible MBA and MBA executive. The flexible MBA and MBA executive have been specially designed for working individuals who can not study full time due to various reasons and for working executives having a minimum of four years of work experience.
Kathmandu University has started new Master”s degree programmes in response to growing demand. According to Jyoti Regmi Adhikari, MBA Programme coordinator at Kathmandu University School of Management (KUSOM) , the institute has recently started new business management programmes which include a dual specialization module and a trimester system MBA programme. In addition, KUSOM has started Diploma in Management and Postgraduate Diploma in Management to teach managerial concepts to students who hold non management degrees.
Despite their growing numbers, B-schools have not been able to fulfill market demand. Gangadhar Dahal, managing director of UC, said that the existing B-schools have failed to supply adequate manpower as per the requirement. According to him, B-Schools produce an average of 700 MBAs annually while demand to 1,600.
Uniglobe College has been offering the MBA programme since last year. The number of students in the Undergraduate programme is 252 while 60 students are enrolled in the MBA programme with specialization in finance. According to Dahal, the MBA programme consists of a wide range of subjects like corporate finance, investment, banking, insurance and microfinance.
The IBMS has come up with the theme “Grooming Elite Professionals”. The institute which was established last year, has been offering undergraduate and graduate programmes. The graduate programmes costs between Rs 125,000 to Rs 325,000 while students are charged Rs 175,000 to 300,000 for the undergraduate programme. “ We are planning to start management study in the energy sector from next year”, said Shree Krishna Shrestha, Chair and Chief education director of the IBMS.
Affiliated to Sikkim Manipal University, the LBEF offers a two- year MBA programme that is divided into four semesters. Pankaj Jalan, director at the LBEF, said the institute was also offering MBA during weekends which is suitable for professionals who remain busy during weekdays. Currently, more than 500 students are studying the MBA programme while 200 are in the BBA level.
CoPRos, that has been offering the ACCA degree, a chartered accounting degree with UK recognition, is now starting Professional Diploma in Management studies. The institute has termed the degree Edexcel Level 5 and Edexcel Level 7.
Bikalpa Raj Pokharel, manging director of CoPRos, said students who have graduated in Edexcel Level 5 can directly enroll in BBA final year in foreign universities which have provided the recognition. “ Similarly, those who have graduated in Level 7 can enroll directly in MBA final year in those universities:.
With the service sector growing at a much faster pace and the country looking to rebuild itself from the decade long conflict, there is always scope for good managers. As B-schools have not been able to fulfill the requirement of the local job market, there is scope for them to grow and expand.
(Source: For the The Kathmandu Post by Rajesh Khanal)
