KUSOM continues to be the best business school in Nepal

--BY NEWBIZ TEAM

The sixth edition of Newbiz B-Schools Ratings, Ranking and Awards 2022 concluded at Radisson Kathmandu Hotel on August 17. The New Business Age has been conducting ratings, rankings and awards for educational institutes since 2012 to encourage them to improve their quality.

Prabhu Bank was the main sponsor of this year's event organised by New Business Age Pvt Ltd, while Yamaha, Tata Nexon, Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank Ltd, Everest Bank Ltd, Hama Steel, United Insurance, Nepali Patro and Dish Home FiberNet were the partners of the event.

The event was first organised in 2012 as the 'National Higher Secondary School Rating, Ranking Awards'. A year later, it was rebranded as 'New Biz B-schools Rating, Ranking and Awards'. The sixth edition of the award was organised after a gap of two years - 2020 and 2021 - due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was also affected in 2015 and 2016 due to the 2015 earthquakes.

Kathmandu University School of Management (KUSOM) has bagged the “Best B-school of Nepal - MBA/MBS” award yet again, while Kathmandu College of Management (KCM) and Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management (NATHM) have won the “Best B-school of Nepal – BBA/BBS” and “Best B-school of Nepal – BHM” awards, respectively.

Along with the best three business schools, a total of 16 colleges were awarded in four different categories.  The best three colleges under MBA/MBS, BBA/BBS and BHM categories were awarded trophies and certificates, while the second and third best colleges received certificates.

Presidential Business School came second in the ‘Best School of Nepal-MBA/MBS’ category, followed by The British College in third. Under the BBA/BBS category, Uniglobe College and Shanker Dev Campus were the first and second runners-up, respectively. Likewise, Silver Mountain School of Hotel Management took the second position in the “Best B-school of Nepal-BHM;” whereas Global Academy of Tourism and Hospitality was adjudged third.

An independent jury consisting of experts from various fields had selected the best business schools following phase-wise evaluation. According to the jury, the quality certification, educational infrastructure, quality of academic activities, student-led activities, entrepreneurship promotion programme, relationship with real professional organisations, and employment opportunities were taken into consideration while ranking the schools for the awards.

A total of 602 out of 2,300 schools were shortlisted based on the website of the schools. Around 300 schools were selected in the second phase based on the mission, vision and slogans of the schools. The number was trimmed down to 87 in the third round based on at least five years of operation. Among them, 16 were awarded during the event.

Similarly, one business college in each of the seven provinces was felicitated during the event. They include Kailali Multiple Campus of Dhangadhi (Sudurpaschim Province), Sahara Campus of Birendranagar (Karnali Province), Lumbini Banijya Campus of Butwal (Lumbini Province), Novel Academy of Pokhara (Gandaki Province), Presidency College of Management Sciences of Bharatpur (Bagmati Province), Birgunj Public Campus of Birgunj (Madhesh Province), and Damak Multiple Campus of Damak (Province 1).

A panel discussion on “Future of Business Education” was also organised before the awards ceremony where education sector leaders highlighted the role of business schools in producing business executives and other human capital required for the country.

Prof Dr Dilli Raj Sharma, dean of the Faculty of Management at Tribhuvan University; Management Educator Professor Dr Mahendra Prasad Shrestha and Silver Mountain School of Hotel Management’s Co-Founder Rachana Thapa were the panellists of the discussion moderated by Sabin Joshi, managing director of RB Advisory and Ednopsis Holding.

Addressing the event, New Business Age Chairman Madan Lamsal highlighted the legacy of the event. He also raised questions on the country's education policy. "Instead of emphasising on skilled manpower, we are exporting skilled and partially-skilled manpower abroad and running the country with their remittances. However, we must realise that remittances alone cannot support the nation's economy," he added.

He also highlighted the need for the development of an employment-oriented education system to produce people with the right skills. Lamsal also underlined the need to put a special emphasis on proper management of skills of management students. He also dwelt on issues like collaboration between business schools and industrial organisations, international students to Nepal,  and the need to establish Nepal as a global hub for business education. Lamsal also said that the establishment of applicable business studies based on the nation's social and economic status was a crucial issue that has to be addressed.

"Even those employed in the education sector in Nepal receive extremely low wages, and teaching is still a demeaning profession. Teachers play a key role in producing the workforce that society needs, and they are a highly regarded profession on a global scale. However, in other parts of the country, they are not respected. This inclination must be changed," he said.

Chairman Lamsal criticised the government for depriving the students of high-quality education. “Even if the private sector is making some effort to offer high-quality education, many students still travel to Europe and Americas for further education. Therefore, there is a real need to offer an education that can help our youth become entrepreneurs,” he added. "And this is what we have been trying to do since 2012 through this event. This event is focused on promoting practical education to produce skilled manpower inside the nation," he explained. He further clarified that the event aimed at encouraging educational institutions to provide quality education and to produce skilled manpower.

At the same time, education sector leaders have underlined the need to enhance the connection between business schools and domestic industries to retain students in the country. Speaking at the panel discussion, they said retaining students produced by business schools of Nepal has become a major challenge that management education in Nepal is facing.