Commerce Education a Continuing Process In Social Interaction

Prof. E. K. Thombre

Dr. A. T. Pande

Dr. S. K. Katait

Department of Management, Vidya Bharati Mahavidyalaya,

Camp, Amravati

Objectives:

1.                  To review the locus standi of commerce education in the present scenario.

2.                  To try to gauge what is expected of it today?

3.                  To think of its anatomical fabrics.

4.                  To get at its functional role.

5.                  Manifestation of the desired liaison.

Introduction:

            Gone are the days when higher education could dwell its ivory castle. Higher education can hardly afford to remain in its isolated citadel. Once upon a time higher education could pride it’s remaining away from the world and claim to guide it.

            Now and of now higher education is expected to be life oriented and result oriented and more so with commerce education because conceptually it comes to be a technical education. [This concept was very much upheld in commerce conference held at G.S. College of Commerce Wardha 1971].

            Thence much water has flown.  The world has taken strides in all walks of life.  And the modern age comes to be an age of technological advancement. There is no denying the fact that commerce education has also change but change a little only.

 Locus standi of commerce education today:

       Commerce educations compose and constituted as it stands to be suffered from multiple anatomical flows the basic one being it lags far behinds of playing its expected role. The role that society expects of it is that it should serve as a source of supplying functionaries at various levels commensurate with the societal needs. But university graduate in commerce do not appear to be standing to the occasions. Nor has commerce faculty provided any sound basis of any theoretic fabric in its functional domain. Hence its seemed to have utterly failed both in applied and fundamental areas. Commerce curricula in various Indian Universities shall cater far –

1                    The societal needs in the form of providing skill for commerce world.

2                    It should provide manpower capable of sustaining the rapid changes in the world of commerce.

3                    Commerce education shall better be in a position to give a direction to the society and visualize in advanced its needs.

4                    It should through its changing curricula stand to match the demand and supply of functionaries in the world of commerce.

What is expected of commerce education today? -

            Society expects of commerce education that it educates the youth in way that they should be able to sustain and see through their role efficaciously in their day to day function for which they should be both theoretically and factually meet the challenges of the times and prove their social utility.

Expected anatomical fabric of Commerce education

            As has been pointed out at the very out set curricula of static nature can hardly delivered the goods today. Any educations for that matter and particularly commerce education must be vide awake to the day-to-day problems of the society. All personnel requirement must be supplied through institutions imparting commerce education. Our curricula should try to turn out not only accountants functioning mechanically but they should be pundats in the science of accounting and should be able to visualize and see through the changing dimension of the science with the changing technology of the trade trade. At present only the basics of debit and credit are crammed without any attempts on the part of the student of its application to given situation. This lacuna must be made good for this institution imparting commerce education must work in liaison with the business world at both micro and macro level.

            The discipline of economics a core and centrifugal component of commerce educational must not confined themselves to cramming of certain postulate of science mechanically. But this facet of commerce education must conduct it self in a way so as to enable the student to apply the principles they learn in the classrooms to their surrounding areas. Commerce faculties would do  well  in probing in to problems of “Farmers Suicide In Maharashtra and Its Economic Under Currents”.

            To get at concrete perspective the faculties shall beneficially have raport with the institution for economic development working in their region.

            For the rudiment in Management areas the commerce colleges shall work in liaison with management Institutions that are rapidly emerging in considerable number these days. Inter Institutional meets and visit of Inter Institutional meets  and visits of inter institutional faculty also can strengthen this liaison.

            Legal environment of business is an area which is gigantic in its self. Researcher in commerce faculties should cater to the requirements of “Studies in legal domain by probing deeper into the business and industrial law “ and should see to it that laws it stands and their students study it has objectivity element in the scheme of things of legal studies. Research in commerce faces a special responsibility in studying is the nature and anatomy of the commercial legislation. These research findings shall proliferate below and feel the vacuum in the curricula for this liaison with law faculty and the local bars can go a long way.

Functional role of commerce education

Commerce education has no static role to play.  Its role changes as changes the commerce in society.  Commerce changes rapidly.  One remembers that in 1950 and 1960 the teaching of’ Type writing and stenography’ only fetched a great deal of admiration to G.S. college of commerce wardha.  Today training in computer education and Internet has assumed greater significance and these technological bits get the place of honor in the commerce curricula all over. But commerce education can   hardly rest contented with giving conversance to its students in the technological development alone. London University in 1980 had questioned the very propriety of commerce as a distinct faculty.  Possibly they must have implied that in the absence of basic theoretical fabric it is not entitled to claim a position of ‘ Faculty ‘as such and they must have been inclined to think of Commerce as adjunct of economics and lately of Management.

     Undoubtedly commerce education has to be impressionable to the contemporary commercial problems of the society nay its fundamental approach ought to be to identify these problems and address itself to those problems.  This is its applied functional side.  Universities have been and shall ever continue to be a citadel of higher learning.  It therefore, willy-nilly has to be awake to building a theoretic fabric in its own domain and come to assume a role of “Think Tank” viz a viz the commercial problems of the society.   For this purpose commerce education will have to have a continuous liaison with other social  institutions.

Manifestation of the desired liason

            Right up to 1990 Commerce faculties in Indian Universities were in a mood to work in isolation from others.  They used to confine their domain to the deliberations of their academic bodies and work with their own subjectivities.  This has degenerated the faculties at national level in general and Maharashtra Universities in particular.  To overcome this trauma they have been activating themselves in the direction of diversification and rationalization of their curricula.  The basic attempt is to live up to the objective commercial problems of the society.  But this is not going to be but for a very proximate liaison with other social institutions.  A modest attempt is made here to pinpoint the modus operandi and present a model for establishing such a liaison.

1. In the domain of Accountancy  

Commerce Colleges of necessity are to live to the need for accounts of the business community.   Only teaching of double entry book keeping system based accounting will not be of much avail.  India has to tread still a long way in the corporatisation of its business.  In such a condition it is of no much of utility to perpetrate present practice of teaching learning the science.  Most of the Universities at present have been working on U.G.C. guideline i.e. 80:20 pattern i.e. 80 on a national level and 20 on a regional level.  If one takes thorough probe in to requirement of accountants for business in Vidarbha it requires no deep probe into the problem to know that it is the Mahajani or Indigenous method that is needed.  But even as 20% component commerce faculties are not heeding this problems in earnest.  Well there is a settled stock of literature on the phenomena.  But Universities will benefit a great deal, if their students are made to study this in liaison with the local skill in indigenous accounting. 

Commerce facility may beneficially do their teaching learning work of accountancy in liaison with the “ Chartered Accounts Institute of India” the most celebrated body in the domain of accountancy.

2. Business studies in general 

Commerce facility in the universities to objectively get at and to do realistic teaching of business problems must work in liason with the regional associations viz chamber of commerce. These associations face the brunt of these problems in there day to day functioning and hence students of commerce shall derive benefits from liaisons with such Institution.

 3. Domain of Agriculture Economics and Allied Areas

Agriculture economics comes to be the major pursuit of study of students in commerce. This is a science one would readily admit can hardly be a subject to learned through textbooks only, here its not implies to belittle the contribution of the learned authors in the field.  But liason with “Shetkari Sanghatana” and marketing federation of agriculture produce shall give a realistic shade to endeavor of the students in this area.

4. Liasion with local  Bar For the Regional Conversance with the Legal

Environment

As has already been averred to earlier at an advance level and at higher pedestal of studies student shall not accept only prescribed piece of legislation but try to peep into anatomical structure and suggest ways and means to improve it .  Local bar may be give a practical touch to the studies of students of mercantile and industrial law .

5. The Domain of Business Management

It has already been suggested that newly emerging class of business schools imparting education in management studies are the fertile institutions to build liason with. From such a liason basics of management with pragmatic approach could go a long way in giving practical orientation to the academic efforts of the commerce faculties in the universities.

6. Liason with financial institutions

Financial studies can hardly and fruitfully be pursued but for the liason with financial institution. Such as bank insurance companies and other financial institutions. 

How this liason should be establish and work out shall be up to the concerned authorities in the universities.  They may take national (and also global if any), regional and local perspective in the matter.  In view of that perspective they may carve out the shape of the liason to be established in between these institution and themselves. 

Summary and conclusions

Higher education can hardly remain in their ivory castle these days.

More so with commerce education for conceptually it is a technical education.

Commerce education hitherto fore can hardly afford to remain theoretical and book worm only in view of its interdependence with business and other social institutions.

They have to adopt a role of catalytic agent between the changes in commerce in the society and the students of commerce. 

To give practical touch to commerce education liason with commerce education and other institution is a desideratum.

Some suggestions-

Those concern with commerce education shall not look upon commerce curricula as a fund it be rather viewed as a flow.

Changes in commerce are fast and frequent therefore there could not be a static stock of curricula.  It must keep abreast of the changes in commerce.

            Commerce education will do better to be aware of its role of social engineering.

For this purpose they should continually take a SWOT analysis of themselves and contemporary commercial problems of the society.