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Students can now pursue the fast-growing secretarial profession even on
their mobile phones. The profession’s regulator, the Institute of
Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), will soon introduce virtual
classrooms, which could be accessed through internet-enabled phones.

“With
this facility, one could access the virtual classroom and interact with
the faculty from anywhere using a mobile phone and a headset”, ICSI
president Priti Malhotra said. Students can enrol for the programme
online.

However, one has to go to any of the 70 examination
centres in the country for attending final test. Eventually, when
online security systems become fool-proof, the institute will provide
for attending the final exams too online. ICSI wants to reach out to
potential students in far-flung areas using technology as the demand
for professionals grow in a booming economy, she said. ICSI has tied up
with ‘gurukulonline’, a firm specialising in e-learning, for software
support.

The institute has also revamped the curriculum so
that students who pass the intermediate level test are qualified for
the large number of emerging job opportunities in secretarial offices
of companies. “With the compliance requirements of stock exchanges
(clause 49), registrars of companies (mandatory electronic filing of
documents) and competition law going up, the demand for semi-qualified
secretarial professionals is set to increase significantly. Those who
have passed the executive programme, but could not appear for the final
(professional) programme, can look forward to these opportunities”, she
said.

For becoming a company secretary, one has to pass the
final test, now renamed as the professional programme. A 12th passed
candidate need to appear for a foundation course first while a graduate
can directly enrol for intermediate, now called the executive
programme.

Now about 20,000 company secretaries are employed
in various companies, while about 4,000 are in individual practice. The
Institute expects the number to double in two years due to the on-line
training programme. Advisory services by individual professionals is
also expected to see a major boost with the emergence of a bullish
small and medium enterprises (SME) segment.

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