English, Soft Skills, Economic Law Proposed in new CA syllabus

Print Posted Date : 18-Feb-2015 , 08:36:04 am | Posted By CASANSAAR

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Aspiring CAs will have to brush up their English and communication skills, prepare to explain themselves in written examinations and take courses in a few new papers as Institute of Chartered Accountants of India plans to revamp the syllabus of the course many already consider tough.

The draft syllabus is ready and ICAI has invited suggestion till Feb 28. Once finalised, the syllabus will be presented to Parliament for its nod. The changes are likely to affect nearly eight lakh aspiring CAs, beginning this year. The overhaul of the syllabus has begun with change in names of the courses, said the office-bearers of ICAI.

Common Proficiency Test, the primary exam, will now be known as Foundation course while Integrated Professional Competency course, the second level of the exam, will be known as Intermediate. The Final CA will continue to be known the same, they said. Importantly, students will not have to wait until they complete class XII to enrol in the foundation programme as the proposal makes class Xpass-outs eligible to join it.

Some of the important features of the change in the proposed curriculum includes introduction of 50- mark subject test of General English in the foundation course, 200-mark descriptive paper, increasing the number of papers from seven to eight in the intermediate course and separating the course on cost accountancy and financial security in the final exam.

At present, papers in foundation course have only multiple choice questions. The proposed draft also mentions dropping a few papers from the intermediate level exam: communication paper worth 20 marks, business law and strategic management worth 30 marks. "There is a realisation that CA students lack proficiency in English and so the proposed draft has included it as a 100-mark paper in foundation.

This will ensure that students excel only if they brush up English skills. Similarly, the proposal also mentions that a candidate will be able to appear for foundation exam only after completing nine months of registration for the course, unlike now when students can take the exam soon after registration,"

Similarly, a new norm proposes that candidates will be able to write the final exam only after they complete articleship of three years. At present, candidates can appear for final exam six months before completing the articleship. The proposed changes also include 12 months of study period for intermediate students.

This is nine months currently. "One of the significant changes is that class X pass-outs will be able to register for the foundation course. Another feature is that the theory portion of information technology has been removed from all three exams. However, emphasis is given to practical training in IT by introducing advance course in IT and a provision of three weeks of integrated course on soft skills,"

IN A NUTSHELL

The foundation exam will be partly descriptive as the ICAI panel realised and wrote in the draft: "Present MCQbased system for all papers is giving rise to guess work. As a result, even undeserving students reach the next level giving rise to false hope. It affects the quality of profession." In the foundation course, fundamentals of accounting and quantitative aptitude are raised to full papers of 100 marks. General English and business communication added as a subject due to its importance in the modern business world and preparing for CAs for tomorrow.

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