ICAI Writes To Ministry Of Corporate Affairs
Chartered accountants’ apex body the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has said that it has sought post graduation degree status for CA qualification.
A press release added that the CA intermediate programme should be accorded the graduation degree status. In this regard, ICAI has recently written a letter to the corporate affairs ministry.
WHAT ICAI DEMANDS
The institute has sought the ministry’s “intervention in designating chartered accountancy qualification as equivalent to post graduation. It wants the CA-intermediate to be treated equivalent to graduate degree in the university education system,” the release said.
The release also drew attention to the fact that the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) had already recognized chartered accountancy along with graduation to be equivalent to a post-graduation degree. This was then accepted as a valid academic eligibility criteria for registration to PhD programme in Commerce and allied disciplines.
“101 Indian universities, six IIMs and two IITs have recognised chartered accountancy qualification for the specific purpose of registration to PhD programme,” the media release added.
ARGUMENT IN FAVOUR OF DEMAND
CA Final exam is considered to be extremely tough to clear. This year a total of 1,32,007 students appeared in the CA final examination and only 19879 candidates cleared the exam which roughly is a 15% pass percentage.
ICAI has a holistic education pedagogy and stringent examination system. Theoretical education is complemented with rigorous practical training of 3 years equipping potential CAs with knowledge to take up complex assignments in several areas such as accounting, finance, taxation, laws, business systems and strategy.
The level of knowledge imparted and assessment in Chartered Accountancy course is such that it teaches from “analysis and application” to “evaluation and synthesis” testing the sufficiency of technical competence, professional skills and professional values, ethics and attitudes acquired during practical trainings.
Such rigorous testing is not done in any other Post-graduate examination held by various Indian universities.
