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| Latest
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| 18th
March 2010 / Times of India / Delhi Edition |
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 After US & UK, GMAT council comes to India
Writing on the blackboard: Lessons from India to the world
Mumbai: Days after the Union cabinet cleared Foreign Educational Institutions Bill, Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) — which conducts GMAT, a popular MBA entrance test used by B-schools around the world — has announced plans to set up an office in India. This will be GMAC’s third office in the world. GMAC has its headquarters in Virginia and an office in London.
Over 2.65 lakh management aspirants appeared for GMAT (Graduate Management Aptitude Test) in 2009. Over 8% of the GMAT’s global volume last year was from India. The test is currently used by over 4,700 programmes in approximately 1,900 B-schools.
‘‘We would like to establish a full-fledged centre in India once we get the necessary approvals to do so,’’ said David Wilson, GMAC’s president and CEO, in an interview with TOI. This will be the first GMAC office in Asia. ‘‘I feel there’s great potential for growth in the country. India has a knowledgebased economy and a society which values higher education,’’ added Wilson.
There has been a steady rise in the number of Indian MBA aspirants taking the GMAT. The number has more than doubled from 2005 to 2009. The number of GMAT exams taken in India has tripled from 2005 to 2009. There has also been a rise in the number of Indian institutes that accept GMAT. Currently, 26 Indian Bschools accept GMAT, including Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad, the only Indian management institution to make it to London’s Financial Times ranking of the top 100 B-schools across the globe.
IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, Lucknow and Indore use GMAT for some of their programmes. Currently, two Indian managements institutions are members of GMAC — ISB Hyderabad and IIM-B. While GMAT has steadily gained in popularity on Indian campuses, the demand for GMAT is set to rise even further once foreign universities set shop on Indian soil, as it is an internationally ratified test.
‘‘After extensive research we have found that there is a co-relation between a student’s GMAT scores and his/her performance during the MBA course,’’ said VK Menon, senior director, ISB Hyderabad.
‘‘GMAC is the first in the world to introduce a computer-adaptive test,’’ said Wilson. Unlike a computer-based test where students simply answer a set of questions on a computer screen, a computer-adaptive test generates questions based on a student’s aptitude.
GMAT set for revamp:
GMAT, which has seen several upgrades since its inception over half a century ago, is all set for its latest revamp. ‘‘We have surveyed 740 university professors. Based on their feedback, we hope to launch the tenth generation of GMAT by 2013,’’ said David Wilson, president and CEO of GMAC.
Palm vein scanners:
For ID proof, GMAT uses an interesting alternative to fingerprinting. ‘‘We found not everybody generated a good set of fingerprints. So we use a palm vein scanner instead as veins on the palms of the hand are unique to an individual,’’ said Wilson.
New assessment module:
MBA entrance tests are good at testing a student’s foundation skills, but fall short when judging soft skills. GMAC is now looking at developing a self assessment module along with a few leadership training institutions.
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