Mumbai campus for Italian b-school

One of Italy’s top institutes, Università Bocconi, through SDA Bocconi School of Management, is setting up a campus in Mumbai. The MISB Bocconi or the Mumbai International School of Business Bocconi will offer postgraduate programmes in business for Indian students and managers. SDA Bocconi has been ranked as among the top 10 European business schools according to the Financial Times rankings.

“MISB Bocconi opens to our university a new path for our internationalisation strategy which has led us today to have over 200 partner schools in all five continents and to offer our students 16 double degree programmes, of which one with the Indian Institute of Management- Ahmedabad,” explains Guido Tabellini, rector of Università Bocconi.

“It is, in fact, the first initiative in which, together with entrepreneurial partners, we give birth to a postgraduate education programme aimed exclusively at Indian students and managers and not Italians. We have chosen India,” says Tabellini, “ to set up this new project because of both the strong request for managerial education which characterises the Indian market and the deep-rooted experience which Bocconi has in this country beginning back in 2000, when we signed our first agreement with a partner university.”

The first programme offered by MISB Bocconi will be the Post Graduate Programme in Business, which will start in July 2012, a high-level international programme in management and centered on the realities of the Indian market and business world. Lessons will be held by a mix of Indian, international and Bocconi faculty. The programme will be a combination of theory and real practice in close contact with the business world and will be articulated in 2 modules of 11 months each. 

The first module will cover disciplines such as marketing, economics, corporate strategy and finance, concluding with a summer project that foresees an internship, an entrepreneurial project or a research project. The second module will also include the option of a campus abroad in a Bocconi partner school or an exchange semester at Bocconi’s campus in Milan and a group consultancy project in close collaboration with a company.

Università Bocconi will guarantee the quality of the courses in accordance with international academic standards and also draw upon its network of collaborations with Indian corporate partners with which it already works to offer internships and work experience for its students.

The school is also looking at launching executive education programmes for Indian and multinational companies, operating on the Indian market, in fields such as finance, entrepreneurship and family business, and fashion/design management, drawing upon the experience of SDA Bocconi.

The unfortunate case of TASMAC in London

INSTANCES of foreign institutions closing shop leaving Indian students stranded are becoming all too common in India. Could this be a natural, unfortunate, consequence of the craze for foreign degrees in our country?

It is regrettable that TASMAC has had to close down the London campus of their business school last week. I have known about them ever since the late ‘90s when I was heading British Council’s education promotion wing in east India. This is definitely NOT another Tri-Valley. Rather, an example of how Indian institutions need to exercise caution when planning their overseas ventures.

Needless to say, the TASMAC decision has jeopardised prospects of over 600 Indian students in London. The Ministry of External Affairs is closely monitoring the situation. In a statement, a foreign ministry spokesperson said, "The decision to shut down the campus is believed to be related to the UK's efforts to tighten norms in respect of Tier 4 student visas."

The MEA said the Indian high commission in London has made contact with the TASMAC authorities. "Our high commission in London has established immediate contact with TASMAC, which has conveyed that it is working with the University of Wales to transfer the students to other educational institutions so that their studies are not disrupted." The Indian mission has set up an advisory for students on its website, but the ministry said no Indian student had contacted them for any assistance yet.

Earlier this year, the UK instituted several changes in student visa regime which are as follows: From April 2012, any institution wanting to sponsor students will need to be classed as a Highly Trusted sponsor, and should be accredited by a statutory education inspection body by the end of next year. The current system doesn't require this, and has allowed too many second and third rung colleges to become sponsors.

With the University of Wales in a spot over the “cash-for-certificates” scam, how much assistance they would be able to provide these stranded students remains to be seen.