Lighting Up The Path Ahead
You can never be overdressed or overeducated. — Oscar Wilde
The pandemic that wreaked havoc across the world this year, impacted the education sector just as much as all others. We saw education move online in a big way after the initial lockdown. EdTech companies showed signs of monumental growth, especially in the first seven months of the calendar year. Investments in the realm of education tripled to touch around $998 million, making it one of the sectors that saw maximum funding.
The Union Cabinet’s approval of the New Education Policy (NEP 2020) late in July, overhauled the education system prevalent for 34 years and has the potentials to turn India into a global knowledge superpower. It encourages the best universities in the world to set up campuses within the country and drastically alters the curricula prevalent in both primary and higher education.
The focus of the new policy is experiential learning and critical thinking during the formative ages of a child and on making institutions of higher education relevant to the demands of the 21st Century. The NEP 2020 makes instruction in the mother tongue or a regional language mandatory up to the fifth standard. It recommends setting up a Higher Education Commission of India, with only law and medical colleges beyond its jurisdiction. The policy has wide ramifications for India, where a populous Generation Next needs to be future ready.
The 2020 BW Businessworld B-School rankings were conducted in this scenario. The methodology for the rankings, that are considered gold class, take into account the curricula, placements, research, academic papers published, and the faculty of B-Schools. IIM Udaipur has come within the top 20 in this year’s rankings because of its Director, Janak Shah’s efforts and because of its superior industry interface, while MDI, Gurgaon retains its rank among the first five. Another notable inclusion in the list of the best of the best is ICFAI Business School (IBS) Hyderabad, which received AACSB accreditation earlier this year.
This issue not only aspires to identify the best business schools in India, but to also point to changing trends in the space, revealed in interviews with B- School directors and leaders in the education sector. We assess whether India could become a global hub for B-schools by 2025. Of course, as always, we also bring to you features, interviews and the regular columns that you enjoy so much. I do hope you enjoy reading this issue just as much as we did compiling it. Happy Reading!
