Students who joined the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in 2020 prepared long and hard for one of the toughest entrance exams in the country – the Common Admission Test (CAT), but due to the coronavirus outbreak, the IIM experience has been completely lost. While some students had to stay on campus for a few months, they had to return soon amid the worsening of the Covid crisis.
One such student, Swati Singh from the small town of Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh, had appeared for CAT earlier but could join IIM only in 2020, when she joined the Postgraduate Program (PGP) at IIM Kozhikode.
“Before starting my MBA journey, I had high expectations. I was eager to work on my personality, learn communication skills, and increase my knowledge resources through peer learning. Peer learning is completely absent in our curriculum so far. Our batch at IIMs has no idea what a classroom experience is like for an MBA student,” said Swati. Swati said she was expected to study late at night with fellow students, explain concepts to each other, discuss various business models and exchange ideas on new start-ups.
22-year-old Shubham Mittal has a similar story. “At first, it was disappointing that we were not moving to campus, as every MBA aspirant dream of experiencing campus life, especially since IIMs offer residential program. The campus experience has now been replaced by online learning; It is an experience that no other generation before us has ever experienced,” said Shubham, who joined the MBA program at IIM Jammu in 2020.
IIM Indore director Himanshu Rai said that teachers have also been adversely affected by the pandemic, as many have had to change their teaching style. “We are used to physical classes, but Covid introduced us to other methods like remote and hybrid. Initially, with few students in classes, we had both online and offline education. It became a challenge when teachers had to pay equally divided attention to the students sitting in front of them and those attending from afar,” Rai said.
25-year-old Pradeep Jasal from Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand aspires to join MBA program to be well prepared for job opportunities. But Covid-19 has also affected his IIM journey. “It is sad that I have not met 60 percent of my batch personally, and may not have met them throughout my course. With internet issues, technical glitches and e-learning, the course was a lot to take in a short amount of time. We are missing out on peer learning, festivals, sporting events and life on campus. There is a culture that is there in every institution, and you cannot pass that culture online. Along with classes, seniors and on-campus staff add to one’s personality,” said Pradeep, who is pursuing his MBA from IIM Kashipur.
And while the learning experience has been compromised, the financial stress of an IIM education has not eased amid the pandemic. Students pay around Rs 14-16 lakh for a two-year MBA program depending on the institute. The students are paying the hostel fees even though they are not on campus.
Swati Singh has paid a total of Rs 78,000 under hostel fee, Rs 45,000 under student support services and Rs 30,000 for medical and student activities. Shubham has paid Rs 73,500 for hostel fee, Rs 30,000 for IT and computer and Rs 12,000 for student welfare activity.
Director of IIM Jammu BS Sahai admitted that the fees paid by the students have come down very little. “The institute functions in a private campus with multiple costs. Students pay mess charges on monthly basis, which they are not paying while they are away. Everything else is a part of the fee,” he said.
Himanshu Rai said that there is no fee waiver for students at IIM Indore, but need-cum-merit based financial assistance has been provided to the students. “The hostel fee is not a rent where you pay only when you stay. Whenever the students return, this fee is largely towards the maintenance of the buildings. Students often think that institutions have huge funds which should be utilized in such times. But they fail to understand that all funds have a plan and a budget. IIM Indore will spend around Rs 350 crore for the expansion of the campus to accommodate students from Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in the near future. It is all budgetary,” he said.
Since institutes have already lost revenue sources like executive programs and mess charges, it is not possible for them to waive off any component of the fee, Rai said, adding that IIM Indore has introduced a provision to refund the complete fee of the top three PGP students.
In contrast, IIMs in Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta have told that they have either refunded the hostel fee or charged students only for the days they were on campus.
“Students of IIM Bangalore stayed on campus for at least a part of the 2020-21 academic year. IIM Bangalore director Hrishikesh T. Krishnan said, “They are being charged hostel fee only for the days they stay on campus.”
Manish Thakur, Dean (New Initiatives and External Relations), IIM Calcutta, said that the institute has refunded the fee on the basis of accommodation in hostel rooms as per its policy guidelines and will provide need-based financial assistance of Rs 5.79 crore in 2020-21.
A spokesperson from IIM Ahmedabad also said that out of the full hostel charges collected as part of normal fee, an appropriate amount was refunded to each student on a pro-rata basis, considering their date of coming to campus in proportion to the full academic year.
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