It is, perhaps, a management course never taught in any of the business schools in the country. The only qualification needed to get into this course is a HIV+ certificate.
The Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, (XIMB), one of the top ten B-schools, last week, handed over management certificates to as many as 91 HIV+ students, including 36 females who completed the course. Students from across the country attended the six- week course in four batches. The certificate programme in ‘Leadership and Management Proficiency’ focused on developing competence required to build the personal capacity of people living with HIV and sharpen their professional knowledge and skills.
“It was a lifetime opportunity for us to introduce the course to help out the people with HIV”, says XIMB director, Fr E Abraham. The 91 students who passed out will have a new life cut out for them, more challenging and more positive.
HIV positive Manjushree (not her real name) was totally confused about her life. Now, he exudes confidence — of leading a normal life and doing something for the society and fellow patients.
Armed with managerial skills, many of her batch-mates are now planning to join the mainstream and make respectable earnings to support themselves and their family.
Says Fr Abraham, “The certificate programme would not only help them live a normal life but also launch employment- oriented programmes for HIV+ people.”
The idea of launching the programme was floated by United Nations Development Programme for greater involvement of people living with the HIV virus in policy formulation and effective implementation and monitoring of schemes. XIMB was the first B-school in the country to take the lead.
The highest participation was from Orissa and Maharashtra. Among the 91 students, 37% were under-graduates, 55% graduates and 5% post-graduates. As many as 30 national and international-level organisations, including National Aids Control Organisation (Naco) and Mamta, were involved in the course. In fact, Naco additional project director, Jyotsna Sukhe, and UNDP team leader, Orissa programme, Pradeep Jena, played a key role in conceiving the course.
“The course was aimed at empowering HIV+ people by enriching them with managerial skills”, says UNDP resident representative and UN resident coordinator, Maxine Olsen . “The passed-out students will certainly become a role model for the many who are carrying the HIV virus in the country”, she adds.