ICAI undertakes reforms to overhaul CA exam

Accounting education body ICAI is set to introduce 30 per cent multiple choice questions at the intermediate and final levels of the CA examination it conducts from May 2019. The move will reduce subjectivity in the exams and strengthen conceptual clarity among students. This reform is just one of the several initiatives the body is taking to facilitate best resources, catering to learning needs of its students.

ICAI had last year adopted a New Scheme of Education and Training that conforms to the International Education Standards issued by the IAESB of International Federation of Accountants. As part of the new scheme, electives in the emerging areas of Risk Management, International Taxation, Financial and Capital Markets, Global Financial Reporting Standards, have been introduced in the new CA course to prepare the coming generation of CAs as experts, specialising in their chosen respective areas.

The evaluation system applicable to the CA exam conducted by ICAI is also set for a major overhaul, a Pilot Project of centralised evaluation was introduced in the Final level exams held in November 2018. As per the pilot, the examiners will be evaluating the answer books of initially one paper in the presence of Head Examiner/Associate Head Examiners under their supervision and guidance. Based on the result of the pilot, the system will be rolled out for the remaining subjects as well.

Digital evaluation has also been rolled out at the intermediate level for a more transparent process of evaluating answer books. Five subjects at the Intermediate-level exams held in November 2018 examinations are being evaluated using the new system. With inbuilt mechanism to monitor and assess the quality of checking by the examiner, this reform will reduce time taken for evaluation and also improve the quality of evaluation of the answer books. These reforms will substantially reduce the time in providing the certified copies to students. TNS