With changing times and the unpredictability set in by the pandemic, various industries have had to undergo a series of unprecedented transformations; and the physical classroom has also had to take this in its stride. It now has a new address in the online world and demands a new wave of learning; a tech-enabled education system that nevertheless ensures that conceptual knowledge and skill building remain at the forefront. Education should never cease!
With this spirit, IGTC inaugurated its 29th Post Graduate Programme in Business Administration on Monday, 31st August 2020 and its 11th Executive Business Management Programme on Saturday, 5th September 2020. For the first time, it was a hybrid inauguration – the symbolic lamp of knowledge was lit by Radhieka Mehta, IGTC Director, IGTC team members and a few student representatives, who were physically present at IGTC, while Bernhard Steinruecke, IGCC Director General, Harkant Mankad, Faculty and the entire class participated virtually.
Radhieka Mehta warmly welcomed the incoming students and managers, complimenting them on their decision to invest in their education during turbulent times and thanking them for their trust and faith in the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce as their academic destination. Bernhard Steinruecke followed with an energizing address on Indo-German relations, an insightful peek on the ongoing pandemic world and the serendipity that this PGPBA and EBMP batch would be the first batches that he would teach after his retirement next year!
For both batches, Day 1 started with Dr. Mankad and his fascinating weave of the world of Economics; with economic history for the past 2000 years being depicted on one chart; from the times of Vasco De Gama to VUCA world. Terminologies were explained, keeping the managers mesmerized and glued to their seats throughout the day, there couldn’t have been a more flamboyant start to the programme!
The incoming 29th PGPBA batch is quite a homogeneous group, containing an equal mix of graduates across genders, academic backgrounds and work experiences. On the other hand, the 11th EBMP Mumbai is a heterogeneous group of 19 managers across the 25 to 53 years of age, with 3 to 30 years of experience in various industries such as logistics, chemical, services, manufacturing, electrical solutions and healthcare services. The common factor binding all of these was an insatiable appetite for knowledge and the confidence to emerge stronger for the post-pandemic world.
For the IGTC team members, the inaugurations symbolized happy culminations of the exhaustive, but turbulent, admission processes during the lockdown period. With a hope that the most difficult path in the woods is now left behind, IGTC looks forward to lead all the PGPBA students and EBMP managers to gain the highest standards of education whilst continually striving to excel leaps and bounds!
