Will IIM ‘degrees’ be worth more than their diplomas?

The nine Indian Institutes of Management in the country
may be able to give away degree certificates and, not diplomas, to their students.

One of the recommendations made by the IIM Review Committee, which submitted a report to the Union ministry of human resource development (MHRD) on Tuesday, is to allow IIMs to award degree certificates to its students.

Students of the post-graduate diploma in business management may benefit if the IIMs are allowed to award degree certificates. Usually, it is universities which are empowered to award degrees to their students. The IIMs, being autonomous, do not have this power.

Senior faculty members at IIM-Ahmedabad have welcomed the recommendation though they feel that it will not make much difference for students in the marketplace.

DNA spoke to senior faculty members at IIM-A, students and alumni of premier B-schools to find out what they thought of the latest development. The faculty members and the alumni said the stamp of a 'degree certificate' is not going to make much difference as it is the skills of the students and the quality of their education that really proves decisive. Earlier, too, the government had announced that IIM courses were equivalent to an MBA degree, they said.

The students, however, are delighted by the news as a 'degree certificate' will give them better opportunities, particularly if they want to study abroad. They said that they would not have to explain to recruiters from the corporate world that the IIMs' business management diploma was equivalent to a degree course such as MBA.

A senior member of faculty at IIMA said on the condition of anonymity that they welcomed the recommendation but there was still a long way to go before it was implemented. "I don't think it is going to change anything in the way the institutes operate," he said. "Corporate houses are happy with what we offer and they are not concerned about diplomas or degree certificates. But the news might cheer up students," he said.

Rajinder Sobti, a PGPX student at the institute, said, "I feel that it will be good to have a degree certificate because they are recognised all over the world. It is also a recognition given to the high quality education imparted by the IIMs. Degree certificates will also help those who want to go abroad for jobs."

An IIMA alumnus, John Cherian, said, "It does not really make a difference whether IIMA awards a diploma or a degree. At the end of the day, it is skills which matter in the corporate world. They are the 'actual' certificates that set us apart from the rest."