Education management courses

Pervin Malhotra

Q. I’m a school teacher with six years of experience. I am now looking at doing a course in education management. Could you please suggest some recognised courses, preferably through distance or part-time learning?     — Kavita Bakshi
A. Like any other sector, the education sector is getting increasingly professionalised and corporatised. As a result, many structured positions and profiles are opening up in this sector. Besides teaching, exciting and innovative developments are also under way in the areas of content, research, and delivery mechanisms.
Positions are usually at three levels: front-end, backend, and a combination of both.

The front-end involves teaching, delivery, etc, while the backend involves researching content and support material etc.

We also have people who manage the education delivery, teachers, content, replication etc. So, there are many opportunities opening up.

Introduction of the RTE and the phenomenal growth of secondary education in India have created a huge gap between the demand and supply of qualified administrators, principals, headmasters and teachers.

To bridge this gap the following institutions offer 2-year and 1-year PG courses in educational administration/management:

• Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, University School of Education, Dwarka Course: PG Diploma in Educational Management
• IGNOU, School of Management Studies (www.ignou.ac.in) Course: Post-Graduate Diploma in Teaching & Research in Management (1 Year, Dist)
• Jamia Millia Islamia, F/o Education, New Delhi (http://jmi.nic.in/coursesofstudy.htm).
• Courses: MA Education Planning & Admin (2-yr); Diploma in Education Mgt (1-year).
• MS University of Baroda, Vadodara (Guj). Courses:Master of Education Mgt (FT 2-yr), 2-yr, Part-time Diploma in Educational Admin (1-year)
• Narsee Monjee Institute of Mgt Studies, Mumbai (www.nmims.edu).  Course: PG Diploma in Education Mgt (1-year, PT).
• University of Madras, Chennai www.unom.ac.in Course: Diploma in School Mgt (1-year)
• Diploma in School Management (6-month, part-time)
• Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University Nashik (Mah) www.ycmou.com PG Diploma in School Management (Distance learning)
• Alagappa University, Karaikudi TN (www.alagappauniversity.ac.in) MBA (Education Management ), Distance learning UP Rajarshi Tandon Open University, Allahabad (UP) Courses: PG Diploma in Educational Management .
• University of Kerala, Instt of Distance Education, Thiruvanthapram (Kerala) Courses: PG Diploma in Educational Planning & Management (Distance learning)

Eligibility age issue

Q. My younger brother is preparing for the MBBS entrance exam this year in Kota. In most of the PMT exams (like CBSE, AFMC, AIIMS) the minimum age for applying for the exam is 17 years while my brother’s age is 16 years and 10 months (25 Feb 1999). Since his preparation level is pretty good, we want him to take the forthcoming PMT exams so that he saves a year. Kindly guide us how we should proceed.     — Manvi Goyal

A. The minimum age required to be eligible to take the CBSE AIPMT 2014 is as follows:
The candidate must have completed 17 years and should not exceed 25 years as on December 31, 2015 (extended by 5 years for SC/ST/OBC students) Your brother will turn 18 in Feb 2015 — so there should be
no problem.

MBBS lateral entry scheme

Q. Will I be eligible to do MBBS through lateral entry after I complete my BAMS degree? Some agents are saying that they can get us admission in some private medical colleges in India or abroad. Is this true? — Sushant Prasad

A. Lateral entry to MBBS after BAMS, BHMS, BSc Nursing etc is a myth.
Neither are such courses possible in our universities nor are these acceptable by the Medical Council of India. Not only India, even the Medical Councils of neighbouring countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh are not recognising such degrees.

So at the end of the day, the onus is on you and not on the “agent” or “consultant” who has made these tall promises.

After completing BAMS, you can go for higher studies like MS (Ayurved Dhanvantari), MD (Ayurveda), MD or MS (Ayurved Vachaspati), MS (Ayurveda), etc.

You can also choose any short- term courses like Social & Preventive Medicine, Modern Anatomy, Principles of Medicine, Physiology, ENT, Forensic Medicine, Hospital Admin/Mgt, Public Health Administration, etc.
There are openings in both private and public sector for BAMS degree holders. A few related career options are Healthcare IT, Research Laboratories, Pharma industry, Health Spas, Medical Tourism, etc. Many pharmaceutical labs, government colleges, etc offer jobs for BAMS degree holders.

Scope after MA in public administration

Q. After completing my bachelor’s in history, I am thinking of doing my master’s in public administration. Please tell me about the career prospects after this course.    — Jaya Laroya

A. MA in Public Administration will give you the option of going into teaching at the school or college level (for teaching in a college, you will have to clear the UGC-NET exam). You could also explore research jobs in institutions focusing on political and social issues e.g. IDSA, CPR (Centre for Policy Research), CSSR (Centre for Social Science Research) or other think tanks such as USI or NGOs like NFI (National Foundation of India) among others.

Public Administration is a favourite among Civil Services Exam aspirants (in combination with Geography law, sociology etc). If you make it to the coveted Indian Administrative Service (IAS), you can put your theoretical knowledge of the subject into practice.