Mumbai University restructures management syllabus

The academic council of Mumbai University has cleared the proposal for restructuring the syllabus of management programmes to meet the industry needs. The decision was taken last month and will be uploaded in the university official website soon. The restructuring of the syllabus was pending for the last three years. The new restructured syllabus will be industry specific and students will be required to spend more time with industry people rather in the classroom. As per the new syllabus, businesses management students will have six months internship instead of two months in the past. Dr M G Shirahatti, chairman, board of studies for management programme in Mumbai University informed that the new restructured syllabus will be applicable from the academic year 2014-15. Full time as well as part time programmes have been changed. The MBA programme of the university, once coveted, has lost its sheen in the last few years. In 2013, around 65 per cent seats in management colleges affiliated to Mumbai University went vacant. “There was no demand for management students from corporates. Over the period, the scenario of the market has changed but the syllabus remained unchanged,” said Shirahatti who aggressively worked to restructure the syllabus. “Apart from restructuring and revising the existing syllabus, an effort was made to introduce new courses under the concept of innovative non-existing programmes having good employment potentials,” said Shirahatti. The university will also introduce three new specialisations like Corporate Law, Education Management and Consultancy. Shirahatti says that the restructured and revised curriculum for Master of Management Studies (MMS) has been developed considering the skill sets demanded under the evolving business environment. Students will have two internships, one of two months and the other lasting four months and it will start from the second semester. Additionally, the university has also added a new subjects in each specialisations. The initiative is aimed at making management courses more relevant and current. Dr G K Gupta, principal of Western College of Commerce and Businesses Management, Sanapda, said, “This is a good initiative as it will meet the industry demand.” He added that the new syllabus will attract professionals as well as students. Source: Education News