New Delhi, As the New Education Policy (NEP) pushes for a boost in the higher education, International accreditation agency, AACSB, and the Education Promotion Society for India (EPSI) has now come together to internationalise the business schools.

The two organisations are joining hands to enhance the international quality and standing of Indian business schools.

The two would incorporate core components of AACSB's accreditation process-including emphases on outcomes in learning and research and positive societal impact and rely on its strong international network to connect Indian business schools to global partners.

The same would be coupled with EPSI's advocacy work for the autonomy of Indian higher education, along with their expertise in higher education policy, the two groups will help shape the future of business education in India.

In order to achieve the objective, the two bodies recently conducted a deans' panel discussion on Making Indian Business Schools Globally Competitive.

The discussion focused on dynamic shifts taking place in higher education governance and business school autonomy due to the newly announced National Education Policy (NEP- 2020).

The discussion revealed that there are many challenges that would come up while internationlising the Indian institutions. One of those being that while many of their graduates are top academicians abroad and occupying key positions both in academia and industry, a large number of schools in India are far away from this category because of poor resources, governance and lack autonomy and leadership.

Another such challenge being the global positioning and competitiveness of these schools. While these parameters are generally measured in terms of their ranking according to FT or Economist. Indian business schools could not compete globally, except a few top IIMs and private schools which find their names occasionally.

"We are thrilled to work with EPSI to facilitate the development of high-quality business education in India," said Geoff Perry, executive vice president and chief officer, Asia Pacific, AACSB.

"India's commitment to elevating the accessibility and quality of business education is an excellent complement to AACSB's vision to transform the world for the benefit of all."

In 2016, the Ministry of Education had decided to start NIRF, an Indian ranking done by the ministry of education every year. The purpose was to encourage Indian Institutions, including schools to improve themselves in research, diversity and in social impact.

These rankings give a lot of weightage to research and publications, diversity among faculty and students, employability and also social impact, the discussion revealed.

"Since 2005, EPSI has envisioned to make Indian management education world-class by making it globalized and future-oriented. The relationship between the EPSI and AACSB will open windows of opportunities for the Indian B-schools and leading foreign B'schools to collaborate and work with each other," said Dr H. Chaturvedi, Alternate President, EPSI.