While advocating tougher norms for entry in CA Curriculum, we must also appreciate and respect the hard work CPT students put in to get entry into this coveted curriculum. And if it is being made stricter by way of curtailing the pass percentages or manipulating the scores, then its not the feasible solution because even in that case, the student will keep on trying and will ultimately end up wasting a lot of time.
ICAI has prescribed minimum percentages in graduation for those who want to enroll into IPCC under Direct Entry, can’t the same be done for those who wish to join CA after 12th? The students who do not score those minimum marks shall not be allowed to write CPT. Or in other case, it can have a kind of structure of CPT, where there will be a couple of few more subjects (can’t say exactly what those couple of subjects should be) and those who have got more than the prescribed marks shall get exemption in those subjects and those who haven’t got the threshold marks should write those papers. And the threshold should be decided giving weightage to the 3 subjects only, i.e Economics, Accountancy, Business Studies. (However, marks are not the sole criteria for judging students capability, but in case of school passouts, there aren’t any benchmarks available and also ICAI can’t afford to take personal interviews of the students)
There are many topics that are in Final that we have already studied about in IPCC, can’t there be some topics that a student be expected to study in CPT that he will find in IPCC? I am not advocating throwing up head turners at CPT students, but there can be things that they can be expected of having some understanding of. The study material should be thoroughly revised, the CPT may be rescheduled, the exam forms may be filed after Class XII results and most importantly, the registration fees in CPT should be reduced and the examination fees may be substantially increased. The arrangement should be in a manner that the total fees of CPT (Registration+Exam) remains more or less the same as it is presently.
And one thing that I find very hard to understand, “Why Economics is there in CPT if it isn’t there in IPCC and Final & Why Economics isn’t in IPCC and Final if it there in CPT”. CAs are known to be business solution providers, they are the torchbearers of the economy or as fondly called “Partner in Nation Building”. Shouldn’t those partners be expected to pursue advanced knowledge of Financial & Business Economics and other allied matters? If yes, why Economics isn’t there in IPCC and Final Level and if No, why it is there in CPT? That being said, Accounting, Audit and Tax are the core competencies of Chartered Accountants and those aspects should not be compromised.
Training remains a core part of CA curriculum and it is also the most compromised aspect by the students. I am not too sure, but I guess I read in the Training Manual that ICAI officials may pay surprise visits at the Principal’s office to see whether an Articled Assistant is getting training in the way he should be getting. Forget about visits, I doubt that ICAI even calls a Principal to check if the things are in order. The reason of compromising with the training is “Coaching”. Instead of thinking of coaching as a “prerequisite”, it should be thought about like a “individual dependent need”. ICAI recently, with its e learning portal has taken initiatives towards giving students the time and flexibility to study at their own convenience and with further improving it, I believe that a lot of menace of coaching can be curbed.
As far as results of Final and IPCC are concerned, there has to be some certainty. They can’t swing between 3-30%. Though I do not believe in demand-supply theory, but if it is the case, then I think the whole structure should be scrapped and CA exams should be held by announcing the number of seats available, pretty much like the competitive examinations in PSUs. Atleast candidates will know the opportunity available and will accordingly try their luck. Also, if it is true that the results are based on demand-supply theory, then it’s a matter of grave concern. This signifies that ICAI itself believes that CAs are meant to be employed in industry only and not practice at their own, and therefore there may be dearth of practicing CAs in the future and as a result, CAs may well be devoid of the exclusive privileges that they are currently entitled to.
At the end, it feels very disheartening failing 5 times in CA Final. What further embarrasses me is the fact that my marks in first attempt (where I appeared with literally one and a half months preparation) were higher than what I have scored in this attempt. And I can’t understand what theorem ICAI have applied this time.
All that being said, I hope ICAI will adhere to the issues that are being raised numerous times on professional forums and the profession will continue its glory ahead.
I would request member’s comments on what I have mentioned above.
Thanks & Regards
Neeraj