Monday, August 27, 2012

Business houses for Education

Indian School of Business was founded in 1996 by few business leaders and academicians and today it is ranked in top 20 B-schools in the world.

Birla education trust founded many institutes including prestigious Birla Institute of Technology in Pilani, Management institute in Delhi.

Tata has been pioneer in education in India, starting from IISC Bangalore, Tata institutes of fundamental research and Tata Institute of science, and many more.

Manipal group in southern India started with first private medical college in India, Kasturba Medical College, largest Distance Education program in India and have institutes globally

there are few more examples to count like Nirma Institute in Ahmedabad where business houses have contributed majorly in bringing up a quality educational institution. While this is good but defiantly not enough, for a society that needs to revolution itself from one of the most corrupt to one of the most prosperous in the world. India has to take this journey and education will play a pivotal role in accomplishing this vision.

While we have some good examples, they surely are not enough. One of the reasons why business houses in India have shy away from education sector is because government policies in India mandates education institutes to be non-profitable. Education Institutes cannot be profit making in India, founders and promoters cannot earn dividends through these institutes. So why should business invest in such a cause. Should they just invest and forget, or they should have control of management and why should they not make money from such institutes?

With motive of profit, these companies may be inclined to setup more and more institutes, and with their capability to bring in quality faculties and industry experience we may see many more world class institutes in India. Business houses in India should be motivated to establish many more professional institutes, policy makes have a job here to do.