Upgrading The B-School Curriculum

For educators, students and families, this past year has been a test of patience and persistence. Finishing the school year remotely, creating contingency plans for a new year and preparing facilities for in-person learning this fall has forced many of us to reflect on the state of our learning environments. Technology was a lifeline between students and educators during Covid, but even the biggest fans hit a tech-fatigue wall. 

The panel on Post Pandemic Classroom found participation from Prof. Atmanand, Director of MDI Murshidabad, Prof. Madhu Raghavan, Director of TAPMI, Dr Bigyan Prakash Verma, Director of SIES College of Management Studies, Dr Asit K Barma Director of Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Tiruchirappalli, Ajitesh Bansai, Executive Director Acharya Bangalore B-School, Dr Mohua Banerjee of IMI Kolkata.

When remarking on the type of soft skills required to post the pandemic, Prof. Madhu remarked, “Today work has transcended all boundaries. Schools like UCLA, Oxford, Berkeley, MIT had to change the curriculum”. He held the opinion that changing the curriculum is a fundamental requirement to adapt post the pandemic. Ajitesh Bansai said they had observed a quicker burnout rate with students. To confront the problem of pandemics, they started a program named ‘Theatre in Management’, which included various management functionalities which translated into better communication skills in students. 

Working on the attention spans of students is another issue confronted by academicians. Prof. Mohua Banerjee spoke about introducing meditation sessions before the start of classes for the students. Dr Bigyan said that the introduction of Hackathons for the students was organised by the alumni of the university where students were asked to resolve real-life problems. Prof. Atmanand concurred on the idea that technology infrastructure used by the faculty to impact education must be thoroughly understood by the faculty. 

Health considerations and budget cuts, coupled with investments made to build technology infrastructure and support blended delivery models during the pandemic, are set to have a lasting impact on the look, feel, and experience of b-school campus life.