01-31-2004, 08:35 AM
Salaams all,
Re Jaffers comment about neo-colonialism, I might add that Pakistans ICAP qualification is already a part of that heritage so that argument does not hold water. We are already neo-colonialists in that sense. We practice and copy our "masters" already!!
In the UK the perception is that people going for articleships/traineeships of ICAEW are usually graduates with higher academic qualifications. Further, the breadth of experience gained is wider too.Entry to the ACCA or for that matter even CIMA is not restricted in the academic sense. Further the training is not universally or as well structured as the ICAEW or even ICAP. One could discuss the merits of the content of those structures which may be a more meaningful discussion. All of the qualifications have their merits, but its only those qualifications that are prepared to adapt to the modern business environment and which are relevant which will survive in the long run.
You can discuss which qualification is better until the cows come home, but we all need to wake up to the fact that accounting is changing fast and that the role of accountants needs to be adapted to a more dynamic business environment. The advent of computing systems has largely diminished the accounts prep aspect of accounting and other traditional accounting themes.
My suggestion is that if you want to prove your worth, you prove it in the work place.
Coming back to Jaffers point about neo-colonialism, its about time the Muslim world started looking at its own roots and started to define accounting and related subjects in its own light. The Enrons of this world prove that its not the "superior" qualification that counts, its the basic ethics of the system we practice. I find that accounting is teaching the world to be greedy and amoral when it tries to persuade the public that a set of accounts is a set of honest reporting. My experience of Pakistani (and other Muslim accountants) is that they are damn good at their work and that they have the intellectual capacity to to be brilliant and original in thought. So, lets stop this "I am better than you" argument and focus on the reality of the work place, which is that the letters at the end of your name do not really signify a superiority. If anything, these are disguises for an insecure lot. May be we should be pioneering a qualification that other people want, rather than trying to be copy cats of our "masters" the ex and current colonialists.
Re Jaffers comment about neo-colonialism, I might add that Pakistans ICAP qualification is already a part of that heritage so that argument does not hold water. We are already neo-colonialists in that sense. We practice and copy our "masters" already!!
In the UK the perception is that people going for articleships/traineeships of ICAEW are usually graduates with higher academic qualifications. Further, the breadth of experience gained is wider too.Entry to the ACCA or for that matter even CIMA is not restricted in the academic sense. Further the training is not universally or as well structured as the ICAEW or even ICAP. One could discuss the merits of the content of those structures which may be a more meaningful discussion. All of the qualifications have their merits, but its only those qualifications that are prepared to adapt to the modern business environment and which are relevant which will survive in the long run.
You can discuss which qualification is better until the cows come home, but we all need to wake up to the fact that accounting is changing fast and that the role of accountants needs to be adapted to a more dynamic business environment. The advent of computing systems has largely diminished the accounts prep aspect of accounting and other traditional accounting themes.
My suggestion is that if you want to prove your worth, you prove it in the work place.
Coming back to Jaffers point about neo-colonialism, its about time the Muslim world started looking at its own roots and started to define accounting and related subjects in its own light. The Enrons of this world prove that its not the "superior" qualification that counts, its the basic ethics of the system we practice. I find that accounting is teaching the world to be greedy and amoral when it tries to persuade the public that a set of accounts is a set of honest reporting. My experience of Pakistani (and other Muslim accountants) is that they are damn good at their work and that they have the intellectual capacity to to be brilliant and original in thought. So, lets stop this "I am better than you" argument and focus on the reality of the work place, which is that the letters at the end of your name do not really signify a superiority. If anything, these are disguises for an insecure lot. May be we should be pioneering a qualification that other people want, rather than trying to be copy cats of our "masters" the ex and current colonialists.
