Strategically Managing the M. B. A. Programme, Learning through Convergence Scheme of IGNOU: A Framework for a Practical Approach

Indira Gandhi National Open University, largely caters to the distance education requirements of people who are widely disbursed in India and abroad. It has got centers in countries like Japan, Middle East, China etc. IGNOU is well known for its high quality education as far as study materials and student evaluation is concerned. MAC is accredited at ‘A’ grade by NAAC. After Pre-Degree has been de-linked from tertiary education, there are a lot of unutilized resources in such colleges, both in terms of manpower and infrastructure. IGNOU's policy was to utilize such unutilized resources and conduct courses. The convergence scheme was a synergy of distance and regular education and it has got all the benefits of a full time regular course if the course is offered through face to face mode. IGNOU permitted the institution to charge three times bigger fees than that of distance education courses if the course is offered through complete face to face mode. Even then this fee structure was much less than that of even two-tier or three-tier B-Schools. MAC is a college, situated in a tribal area. The students could avail AICTE recognised MBA programme at affordable cost with the full benefits of a regular full time course. Mar Athanasius College was the only college in Kerala that opted to conduct the programme through face to face mode. The model adopted by Mar Athanasius College (MAC) could be replicated in any Institute which was recognised as a Partner Institute, by IGNOU.