Chapter 5: The Non-University Stream

Introduction

The Non-University Stream, Consisting of both formal and informal sectors, provides education primarily in professional subjects. Therefore, one can pursue studies either in colleges and universities leading to the award of Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree or in autonomous institutions (described in a subsequent section) outside the university stream and obtain qualifications considered equivalent to those of the university degrees. The best-known example is the Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management (PGDBM) offered the by university institutions. Although only a small number of diplomas of two-years duration is formally recognised by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) as equivalent to MBA degree of universities, all such diplomas are perceived to be equivalent to MBA. Institutions outside the university stream mostly offer specialised courses in a wide variety of subjects, most of which are not available in universities.

A case in point is the postgraduate diploma course in packaging, which is offered only by the Indian Institute of Packaging (Mumbai). Similarly, in the area of film education, only institutions outside stream offer courses in the subject. Another specialised area of study is the aircraft maintenance engineering (AME). Training institutions recognised by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) prepare students for appearing in examinations conducted by the Directorate. The Wireless Planning and Coordination Wing of the Department of Telecommunications, conduct Radio Electronics Certificates of Proficiency for Ship Radio Operators. Many institutions prepare students for appearing in the examination. Then there are training programmes approved by the Directorate General of Shipping for position Nautical Officer Cadets.

These programmes have been discussed in Chapter 52 (A Mixed Bag). In some cases, several courses introduced first by non-university institutions are now offered also by universities. One familiar example is the Hotel Management course (Diploma in Hotel Management) of three-year duration. It was first introduce by the National Council of Hotel Management and Catering Technology by establishing institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition in a number of States.

Now many universities have granted affiliations to hotel management colleges for conducting degree courses of four-year duration leading to award of BHM & CT or BHM. Another example is the Fashion Technology course. The national Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) sponsored by the Ministry of Textiles was the first to introduce a course in the subject. Later, some universities followed suit.

The institutions outside the universities stream may be broadly grouped into six categories:

1.  Vocational Training Institutions,

2.  Specialised Professional Training Institutions,

3.  Professional Societies and Institutions,

4.  Institutions offering statutorily supported programmes,

5.  Autonomous Institutions offering courses recognised by statutorily established regulatory authorities,

6.  Institutions without recognition by any agency (belonging to the informal sector).

Vocational Training Institutions

Most of these institutions such as Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and polytechnics have been sponsored both by State and Central governments. There is a great deal of cooperation between the State Departments of Technical Education and the Directorate General of Employment & Training (DGE & T) in the Union Ministry of labour employment & Training and has set up a tripartite apex non-statutory body called National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) to advise the Government on setting standards and norms for training, prescribing training curricula and conduction trade tests and awarding certificates. This has been discussed in some detail in Chapter 51 (Vocational Education).

Specialised Professional Training Institutions

Specialised professional training institutions had been set up mostly by the Central government to offer courses in engineering and technology and several other areas. Qualification requirements for entry into these programmes range from a pass in Class X to graduation. A brief account of such institutions along with and illustrative list has also been given in Chapter 51 (Vocational Education)

Professional Societies and Institutions

For quite a long time, in Great Britain, the professional societies and institutions under the Royal Charters, used to conduct examinations in different engineering and technical disciplines. The first such institution in India, the Institution of mechanical Engineers (India) was established in 1914. This was followed by the establishment of institution of Engineers (India) in 1920. There are now about a dozen such institutions in different disciplines such as chemical engineering, electronic engineering. Students can pursue the courses offered by them according to their own convenience through self-study, because they are not required to attend regular classes.

One of the pre-requisites for appearing for the examinations is enrolment as a member for the concerned institution. Examinations are held in parts at regular intervals. Students passing all the parts and fulfilling several other requirements as specified in the statutes of the institutions, are designated as Associate Members, e.g., Associate Member of the Institution of Engineers (AMIE). The abbreviated form of the designation may be used after the name. Associate Membership of most of these institutions are considered equivalent to the corresponding degrees awarded by universities, both for purposes of employment in governments and admission to postgraduate courses in universities. Chapter 31 discusses this alternative route to acquire engineering qualifications offered by several institutions.

Institutions Offering Statutorily Supported Programmes

In this category, there are three programmes: 1. Company Secretary-ship offered by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI House, 22 Institutional Area, Lodi Road, New Delhi), 2. Chartered Accountancy offered by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (Indraprashtha Marg, New delhi-110002), 3. Cost and Management Accountancy offered by the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (12, Sudder Street, Calcutta-700016).

All the three institutions have been established by Acts of Parliament as professional bodies for promoting, developing and regulating the concerned professions. According to several provisions of the Companies Act, 1956 all these professions have to perform many statutory roles. Earlier, the minimum qualification requirement for pursuing the courses was a degree. At present, this has been changed to a pass in 10 + 2. However candidates are required to undergo a Foundation Course. On passing the Foundation Examination they become eligible to register themselves as students. There are two examinations: Intermediate and Final. Each examination consists of number of papers. Successful completion of all the examinations entitles candidates to be admitted as professional members of the concerned institutions. Information about these programmes have been given in Chapters 21, 24 and 26.

Although not statutorily established, three institutions, of similar nature are Actuarial Society of India (ASI), the Institute of Insurance Surveyors and Adjusters (IISA), and the Indian Institute of Bankers (IIB) (World Trade Centre, Cuffe Parade, Mumbai-400005). ASI Conducts examinations for awarding Associate and Fellow Memberships. A Fellow is recognised as and actuary under Rule 3 of the Insurance Act (1939). The IISA is registered body whose fellowship, associateship and licentiateship acquired by passing examinations conducted by it are recognised as technical qualifications, amongst many others, for licensing of insurance surveyors. Chapter 15 (Actuarial Science) deals with these two institutions. The objective of the Institute is to develop professionally qualified and competent bankers primarily through a process of training, examinations and continuing professional development programmes. Two important programmes of the Institute are its Associateship examinations conducted in two parts JAIIB and CAIIB. The programmes however, are open to members of the Institute.

Another organisation which is not supported by any statute is the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts (Road No.3, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500034). Candidates qualifying in the examinations are designated as Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA). The status of the profession is surrounded by controversies. Advertisements about two other certified professions, viz., Certified Public Accountant (CPA) of the United States, and Certified Treasury Manager designated by the Association of Certified Treasury Manager designate by the Association of Certified Treasury Manager frequently appear in business and economic newspapers. The validity and relevance of these Certifications in India has not yet been established.

Autonomous Institutions

In recent times, there has been a proliferation of autonomous institutions particularly in the areas of management discipline. To begin with, the government established two Indian Institutes of Management, one in Calcutta and the other in Ahmedabad. They were given autonomous status for conducting a two-year Diploma course in Business Management (PGDBM). This is considered as equivalent to MBA degree awarded by universities. AT that time, only a small number of universities used to offer MBA courses. As of 31 December 1997, there were 148 autonomous Institutions spread all over the country offering postgraduate diploma courses in management, as well as in a large number of sub-disciplines of management, such as Marketing Management, Personnel Management.

However, not all the diplomas are formally recognised as equivalent to MBA degrees, although the standard of several courses is of higher level as compared to those offered by some universities and their affiliated institutions. According to a recent notification of AICTE, only 12 PGDBM courses have been recognised by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) as equivalent to MBA (or equivalent to Master’s Degrees in corresponding areas). It had also advised the institutions to approach AIU if they want to get similar recognition. Two other new areas in which autonomous institutions are being established are Tourism Management and Hotel Management. The regulatory authority for these institutions is the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

Unrecognised Institutions

These institutions are unrecognised in the sense that they operate outside the university system and the jurisdiction of the concerned regulatory authorities. They also include a number of Public Sector Enterprises, which have entered the training market particularly in the field of computers. The number of such institutions has proliferated during the last one date. Open any newspaper and you will find display advertisements to lure students to take admission into the “unique” courses offered by many. They are mostly in the fields of Computer and management.

The advent of computer and information technology has been a boon to many private agencies to cash in on the eagerness of many aspirants to boost their careers by undergoing training in this area. The rosy pictures painted by advertisers about the vast employment potential both in India and aboard has been a good reason for students to rush to the nearest computer school. In turn, it has encouraged many to open schools every corner of the country, in lanes and by-lanes often without any infrastructure and competent teachers. In order to get the biggest share of the cake, a high voltage advertising campaign is unleashed by many schools to attract eager students and their anxious parents, who fearful of the shrinking conventional job market think that three months to a year in some such schools will fetch lucrative jobs.

Many promises of dubious nature are also made. They include unlimited computer hours, access to Internet, guaranteed placement after training both in India and aboard, admission into foreign schools, award of scholarships and so on. The language of the advertisements deludes many into believing that irrespective of their academic achievements and aptitude, they would get lucrative jobs that the advertisements promise. With no way to crosscheck, unsuspecting students take the claims at their face value and shell out hefty amounts. Newspapers abound in reports about the frauds perpetrated on hapless students.

In many such schools, the bulk of admission seekers are ambitions undergraduates in search of competitive head start, unemployed and unemployable graduates even in liberal arts and frustrated employees in their thirties looking for better employment avenues. Some of them are not even confident enough to succeed in the admission test required for entering courses offered by universities and other recognised institutions and therefore find a convenient refuge in these schools.

The emerging areas in the field of computer and information technology, for which no courses are available in recognised institutions, is one of the reasons why students make a beeline for taking up these courses. In particular, the Y2K bug caused an upsurge in the field of computer training. There are also advertisements galore in respect of such programmes as e-commerce of e-business, web design, Internet SAPR/3, AS/400, Medical transcription. Introduction of a new version of an existing software triggers off new programmes. Many courses have also been prompted by the newness of the technology without assessing the employment potential. Sometimes courses are launched with a lot of fanfare soon to disappear from the scene because of their un-viability.

Some of the training schools acquired certification by well-known software manufacturers in the USA who follow stringent rules in this matter. However, all the claims of certification may not be genuine as would be evident from press reports about the unauthorised training centres in several cities conducting training programmes using pirated versions of software. The national Association of Software and Service Companies (NASCOM), in collaboration with Business Software Alliance (BSA), has launched in a big way an anti-piracy drive.

Most of the well-known computer training institutions like NIIT, Aptech have entered into franchise arrangements with a large number of organisations all over the country. Some public sector organisations and government research institutions in computer science and electronics have also entered in a big way into the field of computer education such as Electronics Design and Technology India (CEDIT), Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Electronics Research & Development Centre in India (ER & DCI), ET & T, Small Industries Service Institute. Some of them vie with the big names in the computer training market to award similar franchises. Although they carry a public sector tag, the quality of the franchised programmes may not always be taken for granted. Chapter 22 (Computer and Information Technology) Discusses briefly the training programmes offered by such institutions.

Another area in which the number of unrecognised institutions has soared is management. Overnight, management institutions had sprouted in many parts of the country. Some manage to acquire recognition of the of the AICTE, but many others cannot. That however, does not deter them to run their shops even to deliver courses through correspondence. The concept that a good manager necessarily should be also a computer literate, has prompted many of them to introduce hybrid courses combining management with computer and information technology. Many such institutions launched by fly-by-night operators have doubtful credibility. For example, in Chennai, there are ten institutions offering about 114 courses in management (including common ones) through correspondence only. Of these, four function from the same address, three form one and two form one. Then there are also the “fake” universities, the list of which is routinely published in newspapers by the UGC (See Chapter 13-Dream Merchants of Education-“Fake” Institutions).

In all fairness, it must be said that not all the unrecognised institutions are untouchables. Some of them offer popular and much needed professional courses and programmes not available elsewhere. In fact, they provide better quality of training than of many recognised institutions. However, it is extremely difficult to sift the grain from the chaff. It is, therefore, advisable to make proper enquiries about the credibility of the institutions before seeking admission. The Fax numbers, e-mail and Website addresses given in the advertisements may add glamour to them, but not necessarily be indicative of their credibility.

Update

Chartered Financial Analyst: A reference has been made to Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) programme offered by the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI),(Hyderabad 500082). The CFA programme is also offered through distance learning mode. Successful completion of the course leads to the award of PG Diploma in Financial Analysis which is recognised by the AICTE. The course is open to graduates (including engineering degree holders). Examinations are held four times a year in January, April, July and October. The programme is different from the CFA programme offered by the Association for Investment Management and Research (AIMR), USA.ICFAI has introduced a Foundation Course, also through distance learning mode to enable college students to prepare for CFA programme from the undergraduate level itself. The Foundation Course, spread over nine months, covers two areas, viz., Financial Accounting, and Economics.