KARACHI: Karachi School of Business and Leadership (KSBL) has figured out how to become the best. If you have the best faculty members, the brightest of students will come after them.
According to its dean, Dr Shaukat Brah, “Criterion for a successful educational institution is very simple”. With its top-class faculty and collaboration with Cambridge University, KSBL will give tough competition to the already established business schools in Pakistan, he said.
During his meeting with journalists on Wednesday, Dr Brah urged all Pakistanis “to make ways not excuses”. “No doubt we have lots of problems in our country but we have to find solutions to these problems,” he added. The school started classes for its first batch of MBA students this year. It has 10 permanent faculty members and nine visiting professors.
Dr Brah, who got his PhD from the University of Houston, taught at the National University Singapore Business School and has also served as the dean of the Suleman Dawood School of Business at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (Lums).
A few journalists expressed their concerns over the high fee structure. Dr Brah admitted that the two-year MBA programme costs around Rs1.4 million, which is similar to Lums’ fee structure. He explained, however, that the admissions are carried out on the criteria of “need-blind admission”.
The admission committee only looks at the capabilities of the students during the admission and, later, they see if the student can afford the tuition or not, he said. If the student is capable but not financially sound, the school offers student loans. Dr Brah explained that the school’s donors grant scholarships as well.
Students, who have completed 16 years of education, appear in the school’s GAT General Special Test. Those who are shortlisted are called in for an interview where the admission committee gauges their managerial skills. “We don’t take academically strong students if they don’t have managerial skills,” said Dr Brah. The school aims at developing entrepreneurs, who then generate jobs and opportunities for others in the country. “We will give them inspiration through lectures by visiting entrepreneurs.”
Referring to the five-year agreement with Cambridge University, he said that the university is assessing the curriculum and faculty and their professors will be visiting the schools. The school has a strong corporate backing but all companies need the best employees, said the dean. If the students are competent, they will have no problem getting jobs, he added.
KSBL marketing and communications incharge Humayun Javed Khan took the journalists on a tour of the campus. The lecture rooms are equipped with the latest technology so students can attend lectures through video conferencing as well. They also have a sound-controlled video camera that focus automatically on the face of the student who will be asking questions, he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 30th, 2012.
COMMENTS (14)
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No-one in the world can determine the skillfulness of person in non-skilled domain i.e. Business and Leadership because these jargon don't require a person to be master of some complex empirical formulation like we see in Biomedical, Nano-technology, Software Engineering.
Business and Leadership degrees are nothing more than Churan and Manjan which these institutes sell to wealthy, spoiled and promiscuous teens so that they can feel like they are running this world and it is worth paying hundred of thousands or rupees for religiously learning unstable and ever-changing dynamics of today's technology oriented market.
MBA's? Yep, nation building indeed: Perhaps follow and interesting debate on the Economist:http://www.economist.com/debate/debates/overview/241
Ohh Caymon, stop comparing this with LUMS!! 600 applications, wow that's a lot! =D
1.4 million, good business by top notch businessmen ! there's another institute which charges 40% of these universities but still manages to provide quality education. Also 600 applicants isn't a big deal when there's no experience required for the programme. universities tend to get like more than 1000 applicants and even though they demand couple of years experience too. KSBL doing nothing more than just pulling off faculty members from LUMS.
Stop going into managerial sciences people! TOO MANY MANAGERS and not enough scientists
Education seems to be in Pakistan the only commodity of which the customer tries to get as little he can for his money. as we dont have good faculty in pakistan that bring the difference
One of the few things a person is willing to pay for and not get. haha We need dedicated teacher What is difference between Karachi uni and Princeton uni is the only faculty difference.
Skills and experience can only take you so far which is why successful companies have an all-star board of directors.
We can do better in higher education. And it is more than just technology. It's also an attitude on the part of faculty. We need to think through how we can produce a better quality product at less cost..
Higher education cant be a luxury, its an economic imperative that every family in Pakistan should be able to afford.
Pak must prioritise education spending. It is not a question of whether or not we have the money, it is a question of how we choose to spend it. Most people, I believe, think that you need a God to explain the existence of the world, and especially the existence of life, but our education system is such that many people don't know it. We have to make education a priority, but all this debate about education and testing is almost beside the point. We only spend a fraction of the money on education that we spend on arms buildups. Princeton has made an enormous difference in my life, and I am delighted to be able to express my gratitude in such a tangible way. The generosity of earlier generations of donors made it possible for me to attend Princeton as a young student from Karachi!!!
isnt the whole point to develop mangerial skills?
Certainly a step in the right direction.
All the managers !! no body is willing to work°!