MBA in regional languages

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 emphasises the importance of providing instruction in regional languages across all streams. By allowing students with regional linguistic backgrounds to integrate into the mainstream, the goal is to increase the nation's talent pool. To now, management education has been spared from initiatives to provide education in local languages in the fields of technology, law, and even medical. Management education in regional languages, according to educators, will increase professionals' esteem and recognition on a worldwide scale.

The proficiency of MBA graduates who were trained in regional Indian languages is a hot topic. Director of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Raipur Ram Kumar Kakani states, "Many nations, including France and Germany, currently do business in their native languages. Post education in local languages, Indians will finally give importance to their culture and ethos, which will also raise trust among foreign associates,” he adds.

To apply to any good management institute, candidates must appear for the Common Admission test (CAT). “To attract more local students, authorities must allow the exam in their preferred languages,” says DP Goyal, director, IIM Shillong. To give them an equal footing with students from an English background, maybe the cut-off for the respective sections can be adjusted, he adds.

Rather than focus solely on IIMs, efforts should be made to empower more state-specific management institutes, as these have a comparatively lower fees structure, cater to state-specific quotas and are geographically better suited for many students, adds Goyal. “Once students are accepted at any MBA institute, it then becomes the institute’s responsibility to strengthen their communication skills in English and other soft skills,” he says.