Anytime Interactive Distance Education
A lecture via satellite at the Direcway. Photo: K. Ananthan
JUDE D'SOUZA, a Territory Sales officer in Madras Cements is attending a Postgraduate certificate programme in Management from XLRI. The only difference is that he takes his sessions sitting in the Direcway centre in Coimbatore. "I joined the class to improve my career prospects last September and have already been promoted from a senior sales officer to a Territory Manager," he adds.
Today, he is learning about organisational structure and culture and interacting with the professor at XLRI for any doubts. "We have to submit regular assignments, have regular online tests and a test at the end of a term. I took this programme to add value to my career," he says.
Satellite link
Mr. D'Souza is not alone; there are about 40 students enrolled at the various courses provided by Direcway, which is a platform where courses are conducted through a satellite link up. Hughes Direcway provides the technology. And premier institutions such as Xavier's Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) Jamshedpur, Indian Institutes of Management, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Kolkota, Kozhikode provide a wide range of programmes. (See Box) "This is an opportunity for those who missed on higher education as they began working to add to their knowledge and skills," says S. Muralidass, Centre Manager, Direcway Global Education, which is a part of Hughes Escorts Communications Limited.
"This is not just book-led education, this is faculty-led education". So the same case studies those students at the management institutions work with are made available to the students. Regular assignments and study materials used on campus are given here also. In certain cases, such as the financial management courses at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi, students participate in a programme that has been designed for a profile of students who are busy and can spare only Sundays.
But the entrance to these courses is limited. In every course only 150 students from all over the country are selected. In some cases, only a statement of purpose is used, while tests such as the management aptitude tests are used in certain cases. Some courses have been designed for busy executives who are heading organisations and can only spare time on Sundays. So the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, has come out with a programme only on Sunday evenings- 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Some programmes such as the Strategic Decision Making skills that are again targeted at senior executives aims at involving them in four projects that will be applicable to their businesses.
But these courses are not easy on your purse. They cost anywhere between Rs. 40,000 for an entrepreneurship development programme to Rs.1.8 lakhs for a business management programme. But there are solutions too. Mr. D'Souza took a loan of Rs. 1.5 lakhs to finance his education. Today he is paying equated monthly instalments of Rs. 3,000. For details contact: Direcway Global Education, 31, 1st floor, Melur Road, KK Nagar, Madurai. Ph: 0452 2583836, 5390383
PUJA S NAVIN J
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