IIMs are not overstaffed, say students

LUCKNOW: They are second to none and yet they have to battle it out with the government. The IIMs have been declared as overstaffed by the Union HRD ministry. Well, students from various IIMs unanimously beg to differ.
"We must recognise the difference between quality and number, and it is the best policy to support a process that enhances quality," says Mayank Shivam from the IIM-Lucknow and winner of the Leader in Making competition organised by the institute.
He believes that if there had to be a change in the education sector it had to begin at the lowest level.
"The primary education should be the main target because that is where the students lose out on. They have to be given the best quality education right from the beginning," adds Shivam.
The IIM-L has a teacher-student ration of 1:7 at best, and the Union HRD ministry believes that the number of students per teacher must be increased since there is so much demand of the MBA graduates in the country.
Harsh Agarwal from the IIM-Bangalore avers that to have proper education it is essential to have good faculty.
"More students per faculty member will dilute the quality of the IIM education. Good faculty is the key input when it comes to quality education," says Agarwal.
Though professors at the IIM-L refused to comment on this ongoing tussle between the government and the institute, MBA students from across the country, present on the IIM-L campus for the Leaders in Making award, felt that it was unfair to say that IIMs were overstaffed.
"The HRD ministry is being narrow-focused by saying that the fee structure is not affordable, as any bank will offer a candidate educational loan," remarks Suchit Bansal from the IIM-Indore.
He believes that the IIMs hold no power that can be shifted to HRD ministry, "all the IIMs have is a privilege to select their candidates and that must not be taken away from the institutes," says Bansal.
Gautam Mago from the IIM-Calcutta supports the fact that easy educational loans can help students overcome financial problems. "No meritorious student will be denied admission on the basis of financial matters to any of the IIMs," says Mago.
While the argument continues there can be a threat that the country may lose out on the essential factor that makes the IIMs famous across the globe.
"In the long run, more students is not what matters. It is about how good they are," says Vivek Khemka from the IIM-L.