European Developments in Education: ICAI joins exciting new initiative
Author:
Brian Walsh
[Fulltext] In March 2003, the Institute joined with six other European Institutes in a project which aims to:
*Unify, as far as possible, the qualifications for membership of the participating Institutes; and
*Maximise the common elements for the professional qualifications, while retaining national elements unique to each country.
Working together, the aim of the Group is that by 2006 the national qualifications will be common, except for those elements of national law, custom and practice, which are still different.
Once this common framework is established, it is hoped the premier accounting bodies across the rest of Europe and, indeed, around the world, will wish to join, and a major step will have been taken to equip future generations of accountants for the truly global economy of the future.
The other Institutes and countries involved are the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, and equivalent Institutes in France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
The Concept
The Institutes are currently working to agree a common content that covers the greater part of the curricula of their national professional entry level accountancy qualifications. This common content will be international, rather than national in content.
Each Institute will then identify a national content for its qualification, which deals with national customs, law and practices, and with professional services and functions that are unique to its country. The holder of a national qualification could acquire practice/membership rights in another country by satisfying the assessment criteria for the other country's national content.
The Institutes will then establish a Joint Oversight Board, which will decide whether or not the principles, learning outcomes and knowledge requirements of the Common Content project have been properly implemented and assessed in the professional accountancy qualifications of the participating Institutes.
Benefits
By joining this project, the Institute will be able to tap in to intellectual capital at the forefront of global accountancy education. The qualification will be the natural career choice for the highest quality individuals, as it will provide a gateway to flexible career opportunities across national boundaries.
The qualification will focus on the application of international standards, such as IFRSs, ISAs and EU Directives. It will meet or exceed EU and IFAC Educational and Ethical Standards.
Further down the road, it will allow for common education and training programmes to be developed and delivered electronically, where appropriate.
Going Forward
Learning outcomes for newly qualified accountants, which are focused on the services demanded by clients and employers, have already been developed.
The next major steps in the project will be to:
-Agree common aspects of the learning outcomes (common content);
-Agree national aspects of the learning outcomes (national content);
-Develop and implement learning and assessment strategies.
Involvement in a project such as this will automatically put us at the forefront of best practice in accountancy education. It will provide commercial benefits to employers and, most importantly of all, will make our qualification even more attractive to the best students.
Throughout the 90s we worked hard to develop and streamline a system of regulation and investigation / disciplinary procedures which are now at a level where they are being copied by other accountancy bodies. This project can maintain our education and training system at the same level of global excellence.
Brian Walsh, FCA