Rekha Sethi, DG-AIMA: "AICTE is reinventing the wheel"

The All India Management Association (AIMA) has been promoting various facets of management profession. In this interview, Rekha Sethi shares insights on the other areas that AIMA has set its eyes on since she took over as Director General in 2008.

Q: There’s wide perception that AIMA is engaged largely in education testing services. What do you have to say?
A: The challenge for me has been fighting perceptions and we have been quite successful in doing so. Management Aptitude Test (MAT) has been the most popular test for over two decades and has impacted a large number of students and yes it is very difficult to move away from the tag of being a testing organisation, but we are proud of being it also, except that it is just one part of our work.

I would say that now we have moved to more popular functions of management education where we are offering distance learning and certificate programmes – the second pillar. The third pillar is training and organizing conferences/seminars. The fourth pillar for AIMA I would say is our pan-India interaction with 59 local management associations for furthering management profession in the country. AIMA should be seen as an apex body for management across these pillars.

Q. Recently the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has come out with its own test for admission to management institutes. What is your view on the congruency of such tests?
A. I feel AICTE is reinventing the wheel. But first of all let me be very clear that we are not against a single test at all. We are all for anything that helps the students. AICTE has positioned C-MAT. My issue with respect to C-MAT is that AICTE is a regulator, they have no business of being in testing, it’s not their job. Secondly if you look at the target segment of test takers, it is the same as that of MAT which is an established two-decade-old test endorsed by the government, so what is the need of reinventing the wheel? So they are creating a test for no rhyme or reason.

Third issue is of C-MAT being completely online. MAT is also an online test since three years but the option of taking it online rests with the students. If there is a test that is only online, is it not creating a digital divide? Students from smaller cities who do not have access to computer and continuous Internet access. Some places even lack power. We also conducted a survey which showed that only 9% of the 250,000 test takers prefer online tests. Moreover, conducting a computer-based test is three times more expensive. A single test is a good idea, but why do away with a government endorsed test like MAT?

                                                   Must read: AICTE, the Regulator which doesn't share data!

Q. But AIMA is represented on a number of policy making bodies of the Govt. including the AICTE?
A. Yes we are, we are part of the AICTE council, but it does not mean that our voice is heard every time, which is also fair. I have my opinion regarding the test which I have shared with the government as well.

Q. Being represented on a number of policy making bodies of the government, what can you cite as AIMA’s significant contribution?
A. Well, we try and influence policy making , wherever possible. For instance, I am on the board of accreditation and I was part of the core committee which formulated the policy for management accreditation. We do represent all segments of management. I do not think there is any other organisation in India that is representing the corporates, institutions (B-schools), or students. Ours is a non-lobbying body and we do not ask for sops from the government.  

Q. AIMA has recently started Management Aptitude and Skills Test (MAST). Could you elaborate?
A. In testing we looked at what was required by our stakeholders – the corporate members and students. We keep hearing that employers are in great need of good talent and at the same time there are students who wish to get access to good companies for jobs. So we decided we could provide a platform where both these things could come together.

MAST was thus conceptualized and it took us more than a year to develop it. We have a core group of Human Resource heads who guide the tests apart from only the academicians responsible for devising the same. It helps the firms since it saves time and cost to hold campus interviews. MAST is still developing and also holds lot of scope. For instance Mother Dairy in Delhi asked AIMA to hold a tailor-made test to recruit people. It is not a government endorsed test.

Q. What was the experience in terms of students getting employed through MAST?
A. There are around 100 enterprises that have endorsed MAST. Last year there were 3000 test takers who got access to 500 vacancies. Had more number taken the tests, there would have been more corporate interest. MAST has intrinsic value and here the recruitment is an ongoing process where as and when the companies are in need of people they can call the concerned job aspirant since they have access to his/her score and details. This year (MAST September 2012) we hope to have 15000 test takers and hope to grow every year.

Q. How do you respond to AICTE expressing reservation on running distance learning (DL) programmes?
A. AIMA is the only organisation that has approval from AICTE and the Distance Education Council. So the dual approval is unique and I am not aware of any other DL programme that has dual approval. If the AICTE/DEC so decides that it would not grant approval to DL programmes in management, that’s a regulatory issue.
                                             
Q. How does AIMA perceive faculty shortage in management? What is the situation for AIMA programmes?
A. Faculty shortage is a universal phenomenon and is a huge issue for all the institutes including IIMs. Though at AIMA we have 8 full-time faculty members for our DL programme but we also have a panel of faculty which we call upon since the programmes are held during weekends. So it does not hit us as badly as it does to other full-time B-schools. But this profession should be made more attractive for people to join.

Q. Which challenge for management education in the Indian context, concerns you?
A. The first challenge is lack of quality. It is a cycle where at one stage MBA was the most demanding qualification. This led to the setting up of hoards of institutions with minimal emphasis on quality of education, faculty and students and as such students from these institutions came out disillusioned not getting what they expected in terms of their dream job or salaries. As a result, today, management education in India is going through a flux.

The Wall Street incident didn’t help it. There was a huge emphasis earlier on maximizing profits. But it is good that from profit maximization it is now moving to enhancing shareholder value through ethics and social value. The other challenge is how one should prepare management students for global market changes; one should have course-curriculum that emphasizes on global issues rather on domestic markets.