According to sources and the faculty members from five IIMs, there is a probability that the one-year executive management programmes that are meant for working professionals may be converted into a full-fledged two-year master's programme starting 2019-20 session.
The idea is being contemplated keeping in view the benefits of the IIM Act that was enforced in practice on 31st January 2018 allowing IIM colleges to award degrees instead of diplomas to the students enrolled in their programmes.
Also Read: Confusion Over IIM Act: Most of the IIMs to Award Diplomas
Discussions in this respect are currently underway at the top IIM Colleges in India including IIM-A , IIM-B and IIM-C that offer the best quality executive education to students enrolled in their courses.
Furthermore, IIM Calcutta offers a two-year PGDBA (Business Analytics) in collaboration with Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta and IIT Kharagpur that may also be converted into a master's programme to award degrees.
Also, students who will be completing their course next year in 2019 may also be given an option to opt for a degree or diploma at graduation.
Institutes such as IIM Kozhikode and IIM Indore are also discussing the possibility of conferring master's degrees to professionals who are enrolled in their one-year executive course.
Also Read: Joint PGDBA Students of IIT Kharagpur, ISI Kolkata & IIM Calcutta Bag 74 Job Offers
The debating factor underlying the discussion is the minimum number of teaching hours which must be standardized in order to proceed. The faculty and those in-charge are trying to measure if 750 hours of teaching shall be fixed as the minimum for the executive programmes over a span of two years.
Stay tuned to CollegeDekho for more updates on IIM Act.
With inputs from The Telegraph