“India, France Have More Values In Common Than They Realise”

Capitalising on the provision of the National Education Policy 2020 to offer dual degrees, several higher education institutes are looking at international collaborations. IIM Sambalpur has announced that its students can get dual degrees from French institutes - Sorbonne Business School Paris, Institute of International Universities Consortium (IIE), Paris, France, and the University of Bordeaux. IIM Sambalpur made this announcement at a day-long conclave in New Delhi.  Jorge Cardoso, President, Consortium of Universities, Institute for Higher Education, France, speaking to BW Businessworld on this occasion, described the French educational ecosystem and ethos. Excerpts:

In what ways has management education changed in France in the last few years? And what are the parallels with the rest of the world?

When you look at successful French companies, they choose to excel in the area they choose to operate in. For example, there are many luxury companies and they are doing very well. And when they reach that level, it’s very difficult for the competition to reach there. So, it’s about understanding the niche, and doing the specifics.

Just putting something in the market doesn’t work. To make it successful, you need to be very good at management as well. You need to excel in the entire chain - management, marketing, logistics, for you to shine.  Which is where management schools come in as you need that level of expertise. 

How is technology changing the dynamics of higher education, including management education?

It’s going to change a lot, of course. It’s going to be good and bad both. It’s going to optimise automation for many sectors but anything that requires quality still requires human beings because that’s what is going to make the difference, either in products or services. People buy something very expensive or original -it has gone through human hands. If you are working in a company, you need communication, and that needs humans. 

What Indians are good at is knowledge which can be used to solve problems in digital era. Most countries have raw material and technologies – they can buy technologies – but the challenge is how do you put it in the service of human beings. It’s when you combine the two – human beings knowing how to use technology – that’s when you have great outcomes. 

What is the typical ambition of a French youth? Are they more into startups or employment?

Startups are not for everybody but we have a good number of students who go for startups because they don’t want to work in the corporate world. So, we have a mix, which is good. Globally, many people want to go for startup because of ego and want to be famous but there are medium and small sizes too and they are happy. Behind giant corporations, there will be many more players and they are fine with that. The way to approach startups (in France) is different – I want to do something meaningful for self, my communities and for country. And that’s perfectly fine because you are doing something well. 

What has been the Covid-time experience of French institutions and are students now eager to return to classroom or are comfortable taking online classes?

Before the pandemic,students had 100 per cent classes physically and in Covid, it turned 100 per cent online. The productivity of students varies – in physical mode they don’t want to be present, or they are physically present but not mentally, and in digital mode it was the opposite. When you have a mix of both, they are motivated. It’s convenient for them. It has also allowed us to do internationalisation that we are looking at today. This addresses the needs of.

 Studies have shown that workers want the same – they don’t want to work 100 per cent from office. You stay 25-40 per cent at home and 60-75 per cent in office – it’s a major attraction. 

What are the challenges that French education is facing?

The challenge today is not about French education only. The challenge today is about global education. There are going to be major shifts. The student that you have today is much closer to an Indian student than you could ever imagine. They want to do well, they don’t want to be exploited, they want to have a sense of purpose. They want the flexibility of creating business anywhere in the world. They want to travel. They want to be part of global community. 

And that is very important for French education – in the sense that knowledge is not confined to one place. If the nations are willing to cooperate then it improves the possibilities. 

What are the possibilities of collaboration between Indian and French institutions?

These countries have more values in common than they realise. When they begin to work together, they will have a mutual understanding and sense of complementarity. Usually, academic programmes take two to four years to take shape, but in the case of IIM Sambalpur it took less than one year. Because the value was there, the quality of professors was there. Once one project is set up it will raise the bar for all institutes asking for these types of partnerships. Indian students don’t have to go abroad. They will be global students.