The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is set to make global chartered accountants (CA) out of Indian CA students with its new syllabus. Having started the process of revamping the syllabus to bring it in line with current global needs last year, the syllabus, which is presently before the ministry of corporate affairs for clearance will be introduced in November 2016, noted K Raghu, immediate past president of The ICAI on Tuesday.
Delivering the keynote address at Jnana Sathra, a two-day students' national conclave organized by board of studies of The ICAI and hosted by Mangaluru branch of SIRC and SICASA of ICAI, Raghu said the new syllabus will be extremely current and modern. "We want to ensure that Indian CAs are the best in the world and the changes incorporated in the syllabus will ensure that they are abreast with the latest changes happening in all facets of CA education," he said.
The new syllabus has incorporated international financial reporting standards (IFRS), goods and services tax, and indirect taxation, he said. The ICAI has taken inputs from academicians, industry, practicing chartered accountants, students and other stakeholders before formulating the new scheme, he said, adding students studying under the present scheme will get sufficient attempts to clear the examinations and need not worry about the new scheme, he assured.
The common proficiency test that determines entry in to the CA profession will have a combination of both objective and descriptive answers rather than objective questions alone. Technical training will include personality development, soft skills for both basic and advanced courses, Raghu said adding all this is aimed at churning out new breed of CAs through the robust examination system that ICAI has. This will not necessarily mean CAs exams will be easier, he said.
Pointing that the pass percentage of CA examination hovers around 7-8%, Raghu said this has been the same for past three to four years. However, students should draw hope from examples of students such Prema Jayakumar, Harsha Bhattad, Yogesh Mistry who overcame all odds to top the ICAI examinations deemed one of the toughest in the country. Passion, hard work and taking the article ship training very seriously is the key to succeeding in examinations, he said.
Reminding students they have 15 minutes grace time to go through the question paper, he advised them to prioritize questions and start answering them in a manner they are comfortable with. With step-wise marking now in vogue, students will also get credit for answering a question to the extent they know, he said adding in case they are stuck with a problem, to move on and not waste their time. Thorough preparation and adherence to study material is key to success, he noted.
About facilities introduced for CA students, Raghu said students now have access to cloud campus where the best of lectures by eminent academicians has been hosted for students to view and learn. The 100-odd reading rooms opened by ICAI in its branches across the country provides the right kind of atmosphere for students to learn and prepare for the examinations, he said adding methodic preparation over three years will ensure that students master the examinations.
(Source: News published on Times Of India)
