Great Lakes' 1-yr mgmt course gets AICTE nod

MUMBAI: The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has approved the one-year programme in business management of Chennai-based Great Lakes Institute of Management, signalling a change in the government body's approach towards short programmes which are gaining popularity across the globe. AICTE was not in favour of one-year management programmes in the country. The change could be attributed to the new rules governing management education for 2010-11, said a member of AICTE's approval board, who did not wish to be named.

However, programmes of duration less than two years but more than a year will be treated as 'Certificate Programmes'. For a 'Diploma Programme', the duration of the course has to be of two years or 15 months, depending on the candidate's experience, he added.

AICTE is a body, set up under the Education Act 1987, to oversee the quality of professional education institutions such as management and engineering schools in the country.

However, Great Lakes would like to see its status change to a diploma programme from certificate programme at present, as the former has a better standing in the Indian market, said S Sriram, executive director of Great Lakes. "We are studying the rules," he said.

This development could attract more institutes to launch one-year MBA programmes, said Narayan Ramaswamy, executive director, head of education services, KPMG India.

Indian School of Business (ISB) in Hyderabad, the institute that pioneered the one-year programme in business management in the country does not have an AICTE approval. "I think such kind of recognition adds to the quality of education we offer," said Deepak Chandra, deputy dean, ISB. He, however, declined to comment on whether ISB will file an application immediately with AICTE. The AICTE approval also adds to the branding of an institute as well as helps students get easy loans.