In a truly pioneering initiative Tasmac, the prestigious UK management education leaders in India, made a presentation to British universities at a conference organised by the British Council, India, on the management education consultancy division of Tasmac. This conference, held in London in the last week of March, was to create a platform to bring together the British universities and Indian institutions.

The TASMAC Management Education Consultancy Division will:

• Establish links between UK universities and centres of good standing within India and South Asia;
• Facilitate the development of mutually productive partnerships between UK universities and appropriate providers of education centres;
• Provide an international quality guarantee service across all subject boundaries by drawing on Tasmac's pool of academic expertise and excellence;
• Provide training modules on higher education planning, teaching, learning and evaluation;
• Maximise recruitment of high-calibre students for British university's partners in India.

Tasmac will act as the management education consultant to ensure the quality and standards of UK higher education offered in India through partners of these universities. Tasmac will do this by first directing and then continuously auditing the way in which the institution manages the overall quality and standards of the university's provision and also by reviewing academic standards and teaching and learning in each subject area. As part of ongoing quality assurance, Tasmac will also provide higher education training and development modules to the institutes.

Says Tasmac chairman and managing director Dr Giri Dua: ''The Tasmac Management Education Consultancy is a win-win concept for all - the British universities, their potential Indian partners and Tasmac. This means that those British universities who appoint Tasmac as their management education consultant will effectively repose their faith and confidence in the capability and competence to safeguard their stringent quality standards as they step into and conduct their programmes in India through Indian partners.

''Indian institutes on their part will have an advisor and guide to channelise their efforts in acquiring and sustaining validations from British Universities, reputed for uncompromising quality. Tasmac, on its part, will have carved a unique niche for itself and placed itself galaxies above other management institutes in the country.''

Adds Tasmac joint managing director Sameer Dua: ''The division will offer a string of highly specialised and critical services aimed at assisting the Indian institute in developing and maintaining quality standards. These include programme committees, module leaders, annual programme review, monitoring of student satisfaction, examination boards, external examiners reports, admissions committees, development of staff, library and computer lab resources, to name a few key ones. In addition, Tasmac will carry out a full institutional and programme review of validated institutions on an annual basis.''

For the British universities, this division will reduce time, effort and money in identifying appropriate Indian partners. The admissions committee meetings will ensure that only quality students that meet the admissions requirement are enrolled into the programme. With Tasmac even assisting the institute in the conduct of the programme, it will significantly reduce unnecessary work and travel for the university representatives.

Most significantly, through its extensive experience spanning over 12 years in this area and with its commitment to keep itself updated on the developments in the procedures for external scrutiny of quality and standards in higher education in the UK by the quality assurance agency, Tasmac will, on behalf of the university, prepare the Indian institute to play its part with the university in subject reviews of its business and management provision and audits as required.

The Tasmac Management Education Consultancy is indeed a path-breaking initiative that will ensure quality management education to students. What's most pertinent from the students perspective is that they will be assured of international quality and brand of education right here in India, without even the worries of being taken for a ride by some scrupulous fly-by-night operators. For parents and students who are dreaming of a prestigious UK / British university degree, a phoren management degree in the bio-data would soon seem a distinct possibility and very accessible, minus the affordability blues.