Ahmedabad: Students of the first batch of the one-year executive MBA at the Dubai campus of IIM Ahmedabad (IIM-A), which started in last Sep as the first such initiative by any IIM in India, were brought to the city campus amid the ongoing war between Iran and Israel-US. Officials of the premier B-school said that the students will be in the city till “conflict subsides”.In response to a query from TOI, IIM-A officials said that the current cohort of the one-year MBA programme in Dubai is 35 students. It is the only academic programme currently offered at the Dubai campus. “We have some staff members present at the IIMA Dubai campus. All the students of the current cohort were in Europe for their international immersion, and from there, they were directly brought to the IIM Ahmedabad campus,” read an email response from IIM-A.The officials said that they are closely monitoring the situation and will resume academic activities at the IIMA Dubai campus as the conflict subsides. “The current cohort of the IIMA Dubai campus will be residing at the IIM Ahmedabad campus. As the IIMA Dubai campus cohort will be at the IIM Ahmedabad campus, they will be interacting with faculty members and participating in activities with students here (in Ahmedabad),” read the response.Reports suggested that the students of the IIM-A Dubai campus were in Spain for the study of supply chain management when the conflict began in the Middle East. Dubai was affected due to the intermittent closure of airspace. In an earlier interview, the IIM-A officials said that all 35 students are Indians, with some from the UAE and US. The $80,000 (Rs 74 lakh approx) course has the same selection process as IIM-A, with GMAT or GRE, and candidates must ace the personal interview. All students were required to have at least four years of professional experience.The campus was inaugurated last Sep by Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, with Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan as guest of honour. The B-school establishment was seen as an increased footprint of the Indian education system in the region, which also has the presence of several other Indian institutions.
