ICAN Responds To Market Demands With New Exams Syllabus
...Signs cooperation agreement with tertiary institutions
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has unveiled a new syllabus for its professional Examination in respond to the growing demands of the market.
The ICAN President, Dame Onome Adewuyi, launched the new exams syllabus on Friday in Lagos.
A statement signed by the institute’s Head of Corporate Communications, Mrs. Bunmi Owolabi, said the new syllabus takes effect from March 2021.
The ICAN president explained that the syllabus of the revised exam was developed in line with the Institute’s resolve to continue to produce “future-ready chartered accountants with skills and competencies desired by the market”.
Adewuyi said, “The revised syllabus captured subjects on emerging technologies that are disrupting the accounting profession, such as BlockChain Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Internet of Things, among others.”
She further stated that new trends in the Nigerian environment such as the Finance Act 2019, which introduced new developments in the country’s tax system and the new Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA 2020), also added impetus for the review.
According to her, “A Chartered Accountant worth its salt is not just an expert in the technical aspect of the profession but should be furnished with soft skills including effective communication, integrity, accuracy and good professional judgment.
“The current syllabus was reviewed in 2018 but the rapidly changing environment necessitated a revisit of the status quo from the five-year policy of the syllabus review to a more regular one that proactively responds to the demands of the market.”
The ICAN president also noted that the review necessitated restructuring the various levels of the Institute’s examinations to reflect the new changes in the syllabus and equally expanded the contents of the various subjects against the backdrop of the new normal.
ICAN retained its 15 subjects for the three stages of exams namely, Foundation, Skills and Professional.
Hitherto the three stages of exams had five subjects each in the old syllabus, but in the revised syllabus the Foundation level has four subjects; Skills, six subjects and Professional, five subjects.
Meanwhile, the Institute has signed the Mutual Cooperation Agreement (MCATI) with two tertiary institutions to deepen the standards of learning and dissemination of accounting knowledge in Nigeria.
The Institutions are: Adeleke University Ede, Osun State and the Federal University, Nekede, Owerri, Imo State, thus bringing the number of Institutions under the scheme to 23.
Owolabi said all the 23 institutions are obligated to incorporate the requirements of the new syllabus in their curriculum.
She added, “The agreement meant that accounting students in the two institutions, and the 21 before them, would study using the integrated accounting curriculum of ICAN, National Universities Commission (NUC) and National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).
“Accounting graduates from the Institutions would be granted 10 subject exemptions instead of seven subjects under the normal ICAN accreditation scheme.”
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