Programme requirements are common for both local and international programmes except the changes to current syllabuses and course structures of the international programmes are either initiated or subject to the approval of the respective international institution.

Student Responsibility

Students are responsible for knowing program requirements and enrolling for courses that fit chosen study programs. Students are also responsible for knowing the PIBM regulations which have been prepared on the direction and the concurrence of the International Educational Institutes/Universities PIBM is affiliated with, regarding student affairs and student work standards.

Regular class attendance is expected of all students. What constitutes an acceptable level of class attendance is a matter between students and their faculty members, however, PIBM expects students to maintain reasonable standards, which shall not he less than 75%. Attendance below 75% will result the student becoming ineligible to sit the final examination. Whenever a faculty member determines that a student’s absences have been excessive, he or she may with the approval of the Director of Education request that the student be withdrawn from the course.

No student shall keep away from classes or leave the Island, or withdraw from examinations, a classroom test or any other form of evaluation without approval from the faculty member concerned and the Director of Education.

PIBM reserves the right to withdraw a student from a class or all classes if in the judgement of the appropriate PIBM officials such a withdrawal is in the best interests of a student and PIBM. Most often students will be withdrawn for reasons of health, irresponsible financial conduct, unacceptable personal conduct, plagiarism or other academic reasons, disregard of official summons to respond to official requests, and/or excessive absence from classes.

The courses leading to the award of degrees and diplomas shall extend over the time period specified under each specific program covering theory and practical components, continuous assessments, and dissertation where applicable.

The course work relevant to the programmes shall consist of lectures, practical classes, assignments as shall be prescribed by the Director of Education on the recommendation of the Board of Study.

The Board of Study shall have the power to change, amend, add, or delete courses, their syllabuses as well as the number, structure and rubric of questions papers.

The medium of instruction shall be English.

The dissertation where applicable shall consist of study and research towards the preparation and submission of a dissertation base on an approved research project. Before a student commences her or his dissertation on a research project she or he shall submit a proposal for a research project based on the guidelines given to the Director of Education for approval. A student shall not proceed with the research towards the preparation of the dissertation until the formal approval is given to the proposal.

Evaluation criteria are different based on the programme (specific evaluation criteria for different programs are indicated under PIBM courses section). However, a written assignment, presentation and a final examination for each module in a study programme is mandatory. The presentations students do are evaluated by an independent assessor who is a member of our panel along with the respective lecturer. Individual assignments are corrected by the lecturers themselves subject to moderation by the moderators.

Examination papers are set by the examiners, however lecturers are also requested to provide questions. The final questions are decided by an examination panel and then referred to the UK Commission for Consistent Learning (UK-CCL) and the International Degree Awarding Body for their endorsement. The correction of answer scripts are done by a member of the panel and then referred to the panel of moderators. If there is a major disagreement in the marks obtained by a student, such an answer script will be referred to a third examiner for an independent opinion. Subsequent to each examination 20% of randomly selected answer scripts should be sent to the UK-CCL for their verification. If no major disagreement is observed and no adverse comments made by the UK-CCL, the final results will be sent back to the UK-CCL and through them to the International Degree Awarding Body for their official endorsement. The results will then be released after the Board of Study meeting.

In general the written examination and the continuous assessment for any course shall take the following form:

For each course listed under PIBM course section there shall be a written open or closed book examination of 3 hours duration consisting of compulsory and / or selective questions as specified in the question paper. The question paper will carry a maximum score of 100 marks.

There shall also be a continuous assessment which may include individual assignments and / or group assignments, quizzes, term papers, and presentations. The continuous assessment for each course shall be specified in the course outline which shall be distributed among the students at the beginning of the course and shall not be changed without consulting the Director of Education. The continuous assessment shall carry a maximum of 100 marks.

In general for the final grading of a module, the final written examination and the continuous assessment are evaluated as shown below:

Final Examination 50%
Continuous assessment 50%

The specific grading systems for specific programs are given under grading system section.

In general continuous assessment marks will be computed as follows:

Individual or Group Assignment – 50%
Group Presentation – 50%

This scheme is applicable for all the programmes. However, certain subjects may not have presentations. In such cases 50 % is taken only from the assignments as it is compulsory for every subject.

Cheating at examinations or even the appearance of cheating will not be tolerated at PIBM. All examinations are conducted at the PIBM premises under the strict personal supervision by a senior officer of the PIBM Management. Any student judged to be cheating at exams, or plagiarism on any assignment or presentation, will receive a zero for that exam, assignment, or presentation as the case may be. If any student commits or attempt to commit this offence for the second time he or she will be subjected to immediate dismissal from PIBM. Any party contributing to cheating in any way is subject to exactly the same penalties.

Students are expected to be present at all announced examinations. Unless valid reasons are presented to the satisfaction of the Director of Education, missed examinations will be considered as failed.
Where a student does not take the examination in respect of any study module on the first occasion she or he shall be deemed, unless the Director of Education determines otherwise, to have taken the examination on that occasion which shall be taken into account in computing the total number of occasions on which an examination may be taken by a student.

A student who is excused by the Director of Education from taking the examination on the first occasion shall take the examination on the very next occasion when it is held and if she or he fails to take the examination on that occasion she or he shall be deemed unless the Director of Education determines otherwise, to have taken the examination on that occasion which shall be taken into account in computing the total number of occasions on which an examination may be taken by a student.

A student shall not take any of the examinations on more than three occasions and in computing the total number of occasions there shall be taken to account any occasion on which she or he is deemed to have taken the examination in terms of these regulations.

All rules relating to the class room tests etc. shall be formulated and implemented by the Director of Education in accordance with the guidelines stipulated by the International Bodies.

All rules relating to assignments, presentations, dissertation shall be announced from time to time by the Director of Education in consultation with the lecturers concerned and such rules shall not be changed or revoked unless otherwise decided by all parties concerned.

A student who obtains a mark less than the pass mark, as prescribed under the regulations, for a course in any examination, shall be entitled to attend any lectures, practical work relating to such course if such course is a compulsory course in the area of study, after paying the specified tuition fees for the course. If such course is an elective course the student shall be entitled to attend any lectures, practical work relating to such course or any other elective course that the student shall take as an alternative to the course to which the student obtains a mark less than the pass mark, after paying the specified tuition fees.

In case of a student who obtains a mark which is less than the pass mark for a course the student shall re-sit such course examination as a repeat candidate on the very next occasion at which that examination is held for such course. No repeat candidate shall be permitted to repeat more than two times a course.

A student who fails in one or more course examinations may retake the examination again without attending lectures, practical classes etc. in the very next occasion when such course examination is held if the student has earned more than half of the allocated marks for continuous assessment. The marks obtained for the continuous assessment will be carried forward to the repeating examination. In such cases the score of marks for the repeat examination and the continuous assessment carried forward shall be taken into consideration for the computation of the results of any study programme as applicable.

A student who obtains a mark less than the pass mark, as prescribed under the regulations, for a course in any examination, shall be entitled to attend any lectures, practical work relating to such course if such course is a compulsory course in the area of study, after paying the specified tuition fees for the course. If such course is an elective course the student shall be entitled to attend any lectures, practical work relating to such course or any other elective course that the student shall take as an alternative to the course to which the student obtains a mark less than the pass mark, after paying the specified tuition fees.

In respect of Postgraduate Diploma program where a Dissertation is a partial requirement, with regard to the examination on the Dissertation the following rules shall be applicable:

The dissertation shall demonstrate the student’s knowledge of the methods of research, his or her competence to present material systematically, and his or her ability to analyse and interpret results / data as are generally applicable to a Postgraduate Diploma level.

The date for the submission of the Dissertation shall be announced by the Director of Education. The students shall submit, with the recommendation of the appointed supervisor three copies of the Dissertation in perfect binding on or before the specified date of submission.

The Dissertation shall not exceed the number of words specified under the relevant program excluding tables, annexes, figures etc. and shall be submitted in accordance with the format given in the schedule given below.
The Dissertation evaluation procedure will be as follows:

The students shall submit the outline proposal of their dissertation to the Director of Education for consideration and approval.

Once Director of Education approves the outline proposal the student must submit a detailed proposal to the PIBM. The student will then be given a date to make a presentation on the proposal to a Panel. The Panel usually comprised one of the senior lecturers of the Research Methodology subject, Director of Education and an independent member of the main academic panel. After the presentation the Panel will give their verdict regarding the suitability of the dissertation proposal.

After the approval of the Panel is obtained the Director of Education will appoint a supervisor under whose supervision the student should carry out the dissertation work.

The student shall submit the dissertation with not less than 30,000 words with the recommendations of the appointed Supervisor in three copies in perfect binding on or before the specified date for submission. Usually students are given three months from the date of completion of the coursework to complete the compulsory dissertation.

The student shall then be given a date to make a final presentation on the dissertation to the Board of Study.

The members of the Board of Study shall evaluate the dissertation based on the written submission, the presentation, and a viva voce examination.

A student who fails to score to score 55% at the evaluation by the Board of Study shall be directed to re-submit the Dissertation once more within a specified period which shall not exceed 3 months.

Schedule:

The format of the final version of the Dissertation to be submitted as a partial fulfilment of the relevant program unless otherwise required by the Director of Education shall be in A4 size paper and typewritten on one side of the paper only, double spaced and with margins of 1 1/4 “on the left side and 1” on the right side and 1” at the top and bottom of each page.

The three copies to be submitted to PIBM shall include original copy and clear and fair photocopies.

The Dissertation shall incorporate the following in the order indicated:

•   A title page giving the title of the Dissertation, the degree or diploma for which it is submitted, with the full name of the author and the date of submission for the degree or       diploma;


•   A list of contents;


•   A list of tables and figures;


•   The following declaration signed by the candidate: “I certify that this research paper does not incorporate without acknowledgement any material previously submitted for a degree       or diploma in any university, and to the best of my knowledge and belief it does not contain any previously published or written by another person or myself except where due       reference is made in the text.”


•   Certification of the supervisor to submit the Dissertation for examination.


•   An acknowledgement by the candidate of assistance rendered or work done by any other person or organization;


•   An abstract;


•   The main text;


•   References;


•   Bibliography; and


•   Appendices if any.

Other than these guidelines, students shall follow the guidelines provided by PIBM for the preparation of the Dissertation.

Wherever possible, tables and figures shall be inserted in the proper place in the text, but comprehensive tables shall appear as appendices.

The Dissertation shall be sewn, trimmed, bound, and covered with dark cloth leather or Rexene, preferably black.