The plight of a CA student

Chartered Accountancy (CA) students are normally not included in discussions on the problems of Pakistan’s education system. CA education is divided into four stages and to clear the first two levels (AFC and CAF), which secure students’ professional career to a great extent, students have to pass 13 papers. The Education and Training Scheme 2013 that was issued on March 15, 2014 allows six attempts for each paper of the CAF stage and two additional attempts for those who are left with two papers. Following the implementation of the scheme, students who were unable to pass only one or two exams within the stipulated number of attempts were disqualified, which in other words meant that officially they are now only high school graduates. Many affected students sent an application to the Supreme Court, but received no response. Students who have passed 11 or 12 out of 13 CAF papers deserve to continue further and must be given a chance to complete their studies. In addition, the three-and-a-half-year-long mandatory articleship also brings a lot of problems for students. A CAF qualified student receives only Rs11,000 a month from an audit firm and has to work for long hours (from 9am to 9pm or late). Students are now demanding that the Institute of Chartered Accountancy Pakistan (ICAP) review its policy regarding disqualification rules and trainee remunerations.

Mudabbir Ali

Lahore