CA curriculum to alter course from Sept 1

KOLKATA: The changes in the new curriculum of chartered accountancy (CA) students are all set to be implemented by September 1. This is part of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)’s endeavour to make its courses more industry-friendly, and attract a larger number of students.

With the boom in the BPO, KPO and financial services sectors, there is a greater demand than the 7,000-7,500 CAs that are currently being churned out every year. “In ’05, 83% of newly-qualified CAs opted for employment with the rest obtaining Certificate of Practice.

The trend was the reverse till a few years back, which is why we are trying to attract more companies to our campus interviews,” said Subodh Kumar Agarwal, chairman, Eastern India Regional Council, ICAI.

Incidentally, in the campus interviews in March ‘06, Progeon, Gecis, Tata Sons and Reliance Industries were among the top recruiters. The ICAI has also decided to set up Centres of Excellence for research, training and workshop programmes.

Land for the centres in Hyderabad and Mumbai has been acquired and these are set to come up over the next two years. The one in Hyderabad will cost some Rs 10 crore, and the Mumbai centre, around Rs 15-20 crore. Measures have been initiated to set up similar centres in Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai.