The Institute of Certified Public Accountants (ICPAU) has launched revised syllabuses for the Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (CPA) and Accounting Technicians Diploma (ATD) courses.
The National Council for Higher Education has approved the syllabuses as required by the Accountants Act, 2013, and will become effective January 2023.
Accountancy leadership told reporters on Thursday the new syllabus meets the International Education Standards (IES) as required by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).
ICPAU president CPA Constant Othieno Mayende said the new changes would help in equipping candidates with better work ethics and the latest technological changes.
“This is timely, and for us, it will even make the candidates more exposed and ready to work in any environment.” The times are changing, and we have to be dynamic. “The new syllabuses will start in May this year, and therefore we urge our members to be ready,” Mayende noted.
“This is timely, and for us, it will even make the candidates more exposed and ready to work in any environment.” The times are changing, and we have to be dynamic. “The new syllabuses will start in May this year, and therefore we urge our members to be ready,” Mayende noted.
The ICPAU Director of Education, John Bosco Ntangaare, emphasized that professional accounting syllabuses are periodically revised.
“The changes are normal, the revision has taken into account the developments in the regulatory framework, reporting standards, and business environment within which organizations operate.” Therefore, we are responding to the market demands in which we operate both locally and internationally.”
Prof Laura Orobia from the Public Accountants Examinations Board attributed the low pass rates to the inability of students to integrate reporting standards as required and the inability to tailor their answers to questions that relate to real-life situations, adding that the “generic answers” demonstrates that they lack application skills.
Other shortcomings cited include that the students were not up-to-date especially in the areas of professional standards, taxation, and laws, while others concentrated on the recent topics covered and forgot the earlier ones.
“Candidates still misinterpret examiners’ requirements, provide shallow answers that are not contextualized to the scenario provided, and tend to spot and cram which limits their chances of passing,” she said.
The students are also blamed for concentrating on theoretical aspects of the syllabus, yet most papers comprise both computational and theoretical parts, while others take too much time on the compulsory questions and answer the other questions in hurry.