THE Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and Netaji Subhas Open University (NSOU) inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Wednesday, by which NSOU will grant exemptions to CA students from learning the common subjects of study in its BCom course.
At a press conference, Sunil Talati, president, ICAI, said: “This move was executed after substantial review of the curriculum, so that students can concentrate on acquiring knowledge in new areas rather than focusing on the same seven subjects covering in the theoretical education scheme of the chartered accountancy.” ICAI and NSOU will constitute a coordination committee to monitor academic progress of students on a continuous basis. ICAI had entered into a similar MoU in March with Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), by which the latter has launched special BCom and MCom courses.
ICAI will also be focusing strongly on e-learning initiatives. “We have embarked on a Rs 5-crore project where we will be teaming up with a private service provider, Sankhya Infotech. Within the next two months, students will be able to access material from the Common Proficiency Test (CPT) from the computer at home,” said Mr. Talati.
Depending on the response, material for the Professional Competence Test (PCE) and the final CA course will also be made available within the next year. The institute is stressing on building what it terms ‘accounting technicians’.
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