Accounting Education in Sri Lanka: Lessons from the Singaporean Experience by - Hema Wijewardena and Senarath Yapa

Dr. Eema mjewardemism^eM^aSen^ Australia. BeisttCkWerM'AccountaM Formerly, he was Professor of Commerce at the University ofSriJayavmfenepura.

Senarath JaÛmtrenâdae^Mmdtîn^^mâtM pnlversuyoflPMBngpHg, Australia, Formerly, He ms aS^

istorical analyses of pared with Sri Lanka, Singapore has counting education was no exception. education in many de made a much greater progress in the The British system of accounting edu veloping countries re field of education and training of ac cation was imposed on Singapore dur veal that their account countants. More importantly, Singa ing the colonial period through several H ing education systems pore has successfully moved away from' channels such as (1) the export of Brit have been heavily influenced by a the old British system in providing ish accounting personnel, (2) the ex number of developed countries in the education to prospective accountants. port of British accounting qualifica West (Wilkinson, 1965; Perera, 1975; Moreover, Singapore which was eco tions, (3) .the establishment of exami Chandler and Holzer, 1984; Wallace, nomically inferior to Sri Lanka during nation centres in Singapore for British 1990). It is also seen that accounting the early years of post-independence professional accounting bodies, (4) the. practice, which is a product of the edu achieved a remarkably higher economic involvement of British experts in the cation and training given to account development in recent decades and has planning, directing, organising, teach ants, has been imposed in almost all emerged as a newly industrialised ing and providing assistance in one developing countries by developed country (NIC). In 1994, Singapore form or another in the development of countries initially through colonialism recorded a per capita income as high as academic institutions in Singapore, and and then through the operations of 23,660 US dollars being second only to (5) the British influence upon the busi transnational corporations, profes Japan in the entire Asian region ness, education and administrative sional accounting institutes, and the whereas it was only 640 US dollars in environments in the early days of Sin Sri Lanka (World Bank 1995). It has special conditions in economic aid u gapore (Foo, 1988). agreements, rather than in response also been revealed that Singapore's to the societal needs of those develop accounting education and practice has Prior to 1956, Singapore did not ing countries (Hove, 1986; Briston, been a significant contributor to its have any programme of studies lead 1978). This is particularly true for Sri miraculous economic achievements. ing to a local qualification in account Lanka and Singapore. Both these coun Therefore, it seems important to ex ing. The only accounting education tries were under British rule for nearly amine the development of accounting available was through the examina one hundred and fifty years. Even af education in these two countries and tions conducted by professional ac ter the independence, the British in see whether Sri Lanka can learn from counting bodies overseas, such as the fluence on accounting education and :the Singaporean experience. Our pa Association of Certified Accountants practice continued to thrive in these per is an attempt in this direction. of the United Kingdom (ACCA), the two countries through the above chan Institute of Cost and Works Account nels. Thus, Sri Lanka and Singapore Accounting Education in ants of the United Kingdom (ICWA), \inherited their accounting education Singapore and the Australian Society of Account almost entirely from the British sys ants (ASA). Similarly, foreign profes tem. Consequently, at the initial stage sional accounting qualification was the of its development, the accounting Historically, except for the brief only avenue through which a person education system of Sri Lanka was Japanese occupation in the 1940s, Sin could expect an accounting job particu very similar to that of Singapore. gapore was a British colony for nearly one and a half centuries until its inde larly in the public sector. The first local pendence in 1959. Consequently, its., accounting programme leading, to a. The current state of accounting edu general education from the primary to Bachelor of Commerce with specialisa- cation in these two countries, however, the university level was inherited from ' tion in accounting was launched by the: is significantly different. When com the British education system, and ac Nanyang University in 1956^ In the

24 Economic Review April/May 1998 foUowingyear,theDepartmentofCom-* cal Institute, the country's accounting graduates also receive various degrees merce at the Singapore Polytechnic education system achieved its highest of exemption from examinations of sev was established by the colonial gov growth. The School of Accountancy of eral foreign professional accounting ernment to offer, among other courses, the National University of Singapore bodies. a full-time course leading to the Col was physically relocated at the lege Diploma in Accounting (Fong and Nanyang Technological Insitute in Since the inception of the profes Foo, 1992). In 1958, the Department of 1987 and the School of Accountancy sional accounting body, initially as the Commerce at the Singapore Polytech was renamed the School of Account Singapore Society ofAccountant s (SSA) nic was replaced by the Department of ancy and Business in 1990. In 1991, in 1963 and later as the Institute of Accountancy with the objective of of the Nanyang Technological Institute Certified Public Accountants of Singa fering both full-time and part-time became a full-fledged university and is- pore (ICPAS) in 1987, it has been main courses .leading to a Professional Di now named the Nanyang Technologi taining a close relationship with the ploma in Accounting (Tan Teck Meng cal University (NTU). The School of university's School of Accountancy. et. al.1994). This diploma was recog Accountancy and Business of this uni This liaison is evidenced by the fact nised in 1963 as an adequate qualifica versity has gained a reputation today that the Institute (or Society prior to tion for admission to the membership as the leading centre for undergradu 1987) was consulted through each stage of the Singapore Society of Account ate and postgraduate accounting edu of the transition of the School from the ants (SSA), which was the professional cation in Southeast Asia. In addition Singapore Polytechnic to the National accounting body established by the to its Bachelor of Accountancy degree, University of Singapore, and subse government for the purposes of regis programme, it also offers a professional quently to the Nanyang Technological tering professional accountants and postgraduate programme leading to a Institute in 1987 and the present regulating the practice of the profes Master of Business Administration in Nanyang Technological University. A sion of accountancy in Singapore. Dur Accounting. Both these accounting representative of the School of Account ing the 1965-66 academic year, the degrees are recognised by the Institute ancy and Business is appointed by the Department of Accountancy at the Sin of Certified Public Accountants of Sin Minister of Finance as a statutory gapore Polytechnic was renamed the gapore (ICPAS) for admission to its member of the Council of the ICPAS. School of Accountancy and the account provisional membership, subject to Through various committees, the ancy programme was upgraded from a approved practical experience. The School of Accountancy and Business diploma to a university degree to sig Bachelor of Accountancy programme also maintains-close rapport with the nify the transformation of this poly of NTU at various stages as mentioned professional accounting body as well technic to a university college. As a- above has produced nearly 10,000 ac as the business community and profes result of negotiations between this col counting graduates. By the end of1992, sional organisations to ensure the con lege and the University of Singapore, 7442 of these graduates had become tinuing relevance of its degree pro the latter agreed to award its account professional accountants by obtaining grammes. ing degree to students of the Singapore the ICPAS membership. In addition to Polytechnic. In 1969, the. amalgama the undergraduate degree in account Accounting Education in tion of the School of Accountancy with ing, the School of Accountancy and Sri Lanka the Department of Business Adminis Business at NTU also offers two post tration of the University of Singapore graduate research degrees leading to During the colonial period, the whole represented yet another milestone in the Master of Accountancy (M. Acc) and gamutof business activity in Sri Lanka the historical development of account the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Ac was directed towards the plantation ing education in Singapore (Sunday counting. sector which was introduced to the Times, 1968). With the merger, the economyby the British (Ramanathan, School of Accountancy was also relo The Bachelor of Accounting degree 1952). In order to facilitate the invest cated at the University of Singapore. awarded by'the Nanyang Technologi ment of British capital, the manage- cal University is based on a 3-year full- mentofplantations through joint stock As a further development, the Bach time programme of study. All students companies was introduced in the mid elor of Commerce (Accountancy) pro of this programme are required to un dle of the nineteenth century. Ini gramme offered by Nanyang Univer dergo a structured 10-week industrial tially, all these companies were owned sity since 19|6 also received its profes attachment programme at the end of. by British investors and the required sional recognition from the Singapore their second year of studies. Under personnel for their management, in Society of Accountants in 1971 (SSA, this scheme, students are attached to cluding accountants, came from the 1972). In 1978, joint courses in ac 'public accounting firms or other busi U.K. Even though these firms were counting were introduced by the ness organisations for practical train actually located in Sri Lanka, they Nanyang University and the Univer ing. The main purpose of this period of were managed as if they were in Brit sity of Singapore. The two schools of practical training is to instil in stu ain,, and no attempt was made to de accountancy merged in 1980 to form dents a sense of professionalism and. velop an accounting system suitable the School of Accountancy at the Na the right work attitudes so that they for local conditions (Perera; 1975). tional University of Singapore. After- become effective and productive in their Local people were also trained by Brit •the reorganisation of the Singaporean respective organisations after gradua ish accountants along the same lines .university system through the forma- tion'. In addition to being entitled to the so that they could be employed in oper ;tion of the National University of Sin provisional membership of the local ating the British accounting system gapore and the Nanyang Technologi professional.accounting body, B.Acc. more economically in these firms. Up > '

Economic Review April/May 1998 25 'to about 1925 there were no profes-i government to prescribe regulations course leading to the Higher National isionally qualified accountants in the and conduct examinations for select- Diploma in Accountancy which was government service, except in the Gov ingsuitablecandidates for the account previously known as the Diploma in ernment Railway where a few profes ancy service (Report, 1963). Those who Accountancy. sionally qualified accountants had been were selected by the Accountancy recruited from England, apparently Board through its examinations were The Institute of Chartered Account for the purpose of training accounting called Ceylon Registered Accountants. ants of Sri Lanka (ICASL), which re personnel for the Railway (Report, The Accountancy Board also organ placed the Accountancy Board, was 1949). ised some classes for prospective ac established in December 1959 under countants in collaboration with a few the provisions of the Act of Parliament As discussed above, on-the-job train private academies. A number of pri No. 23 of 1959. Since then it has been ing provided by British accountants to vate academies also conducted classes functioning as the only local profes their local staff was the first account for accounting students who independ sional body ofaccountant s in Sri Lanka. ing training given in Sri Lanka. In ently prepared for the external exami From its inception, the ICASL has also addition, from about 1890 a few pri nations of British professional ac been the main centre of accounting vate educational institutions such as counting bodies. Such an external ex education and training in the country. St. Benedit's Institute at Kotahena, amination was conducted for the first It provided the opportunity for pro St. Patrick's College in Jaffna and the time in Colombo in 1920 (Johnson and spective accountants to become quali Polytechnic at Wellawatte conducted Caygill, 1971). Since there was no. fied as Chartered Accountants within classes in commercial subjects, in local professional body of accountants the country. However, apart from the cluding accounting, mainlyfor students even by the late 19.50s prospective ac fact that chartered accountants could preparing for the British external ex countants in Sri Lanka had to depend be produced locally, the method of edu aminations held in Sri Lanka. The on the professional bodies in the U.K cation and training used for producing most popular of these were the ex to obtain their professional qualifica such accountants continued to be the aminations leading to the London' tions. The most prominent of these same as that of the Institute of Char Chamber of Commerce certificates and professional bodies were the Institute tered Accountants in England and the Cambridge certificates. The hold of Chartered Accountants in England Wales. Following the British system, ing of these British examinations in and Wales, the Institute of Incorpo the ICASL also introduced its own pro Sri Lanka dates back to 1891 (De Silva, rated Accountants, the Association of, fessional examinations and only those 1969). However, no programme of stud Certified and Corporate Accountants, who passed those examinations and ies leading to a local qualification in and the Institute of Cost and Works successfully completed a five-year pe accounting was conducted by any or Accountants. Among them, the first riod of practical training as articled ganisation until 1943. Even though two required the candidates to be clerks under the supervision of char the Ceylon Technical College at articled under practising accountants, tered accountants (called principals) Maradana was set up by the colonial whereas the last two did not have such were admitted to the membership of government in 1893, accounting edu a requirement. All prospective char the Institute as "Chartered Account cation was not given a place in its tered accountants were required to go ants". programmes of studies for nearly fifty to the U.K. to be articled for five years, years from its inception. It was only whereas it was possible for the Incor The ICASL has also been engaged after 1942 that the Ceylon Technical porated Accountants to be articled in in providing a study programme to its. College took steps to organise and offer Sri Lanka in four years and two months student members for enabling them to certificate and diploma courses in ac before going to England to take ex prepare for the intermediate (Licenti counting. Accordingly, a commercial aminations. The membership of the ate) and final (Professional) examina certificate course for bookkeepers and other two professional bodies was open tions! This programme included an a diploma course for prospective ac to those engaged in accounting activi introductory course of lectures at the countants were launched by the Tech ties and itwas obtainable by completing commencement of articles, a revision nical College in 1943 and 1946 respec the examinations locally and satisfying course of lectures and tutorials shortly tively. These courses were modelled on the conditions as to the candidate's before each examination, and in be similar programmes of studies offered experience and character. Mainly with tween, an approved correspondence in the U.K. Since the Diploma in Ac the knowledge acquired through the course supplemented by seminars, countancy was a four-year evening Diploma in Accountancy course con workshops and handouts. However, course offered at the professional level ducted at the Ceylon Technical College, there has been little opportunity for an the admission to the course was re a considerable number of accounting academic tradition to grow in this sys stricted to those who were engaged in students completed the examinations tem (Manoharan, 1974). Even though accounting related activities. The cur of the above professional bodies and the ICASL introduced some changes to riculum of this course was quite simi became British qualified professional; the educational programmes in the lar to those of the leading professional accountants. Over the past three dec recent past, there has not been any accounting bodies in the U.K. ades, in addition to the accounting significant change in its educational courses offered by the premier technical approach. Since the ICASL is not an From 1941 to 1959, the only au college at Maradana, similar courses educational institution like a univer thoritative body of accountancy existed were conducted in most of the regional sity or technical college, it offers only a, in Sri Lanka was the Accountancy technical colleges as well. The most limited amount of study support to Board which was established by the important of them was the four-year students in the form of formal lectures

Economic Review April/May 1998 and tutorials. Therefore, students of prepare for these foreign examinations, (Economics) programme of this uni the ICASL generally seek additional they depend mostly on classes con versity also provided a specialisation support from various external sources ducted by private tutories. in accountancy. In 1961, the Univer to supplement their knowledge in pre sity of Ceylon (Peradeniya) also intro paring for the institute examinations Commerce education had also been duced a programme of studies leading introduced to the school system of this to the Bachelor of Commerce degree. Until recently, the system of arti country from the colonial days. But, it This programme also included a cles played a major role in the whole was confined only to .a few leading number of accounting subjects. When programme of education and training assisted schools at the beginning. Book the universities in Sri Lanka were re provided by the ICASL. Under the keeping was one of the subjects taught organised in 1972, all the universities terms of this training scheme, the prin in the commerce classes of these came under one central administra cipal was expected to allow study-time schools. However, the authorities then tion and consequently each university and provide on-the-job training for the had not attached any importance to became a campus of the University of trainee called ar articled clerk1'.'Since these subjects. The heads of schools Sri Lanka. One of the significant de this system was adopted from the U.K. who wished to keep those students velopments of this reorganisation was it was assumed, generally, that train who were good at sports in the school the rapid expansion of commerce edu ing under articles was adequate for found for them a safe refuge in the cation in the university system. For local requirements, withoutanyproper commerce class (Commerce Education, example, in addition to the Business evaluation being done of the type of 1962). This situation changed gradu and Public Administration degree pro-. training received by an articled clerk. ally after the independence. By the grammes, a new Bachelor of Commerce However, it was seen that these articled early 1960s, General Commercial degree programme with a heavy em clerks were often used for mechanical Knowledge, Commercial Arithmetic phasis on accounting subjects was in or routine work which could be handled and Accounting had been added to the troduced at the Vidyodaya Campus in by bookkeepers or others of more lim curricula of a considerable number of 1973. Subsequently, similar pro ited capacity, and seldom were they secondary schools in the government, grammes were started in other univer given challenging work or real re sector as well. In order to provide a sity campuses at Kelaniya, Colombo, sponsibility (Perera, 1975). Further systematic training to teachers who Ruhuna and Jaffna. These campuses more, in 1973, the Report of the Com were engaged in teaching these sub were renamed as separate independ mittee on the Future Training of Ac jects in schools, a two-year teacher ent universities in 1977. Although the countants pointed out thatthe training training programme was started at accounting subjects were offered as a under articles was heavily biased to the Maharagama Teachers' College in major component of undergraduate wards the legal and statutory audit 1960. Accounting was one of the main degree programmes in commerce and without giving adequate recognition to subject areas included in this pro management in all the above universi accounting as a management and con gramme. Particularly after launching ties, a comprehensive accounting de trol function (Accountant, 1973): Sub gree programme was not offered, by a sequently, in response to the recom of the teacher training programme, mendations of this committee, the teaching of accounting and other com single university in Sri Lanka until ICASL changed its training scheme merce subjects in the GCE ordinary 1992. from ^'articles1' to ''practical training* and advanced-level classes spread more and reduced the duration of training rapidly to many other secondary For the first time in the history of from 5 to' 3 years for university schools in the country. Thus, over the university education in Sri Lanka, a graduates and 4 years for non-gradu last two decades, Commerce and Fi separate academic department for ac ates. It also introduced some changes nance, and Accounting have been two counting was set up and a comprehen to the requirements of principals and of the most popular subjects for GCE; sive bachelors degree programme in reorganised the scheme of examina Advanced-Level students in the coun accounting was started at the Univer tions. Despite these few changes, the try. Many students who study these • sity of Sri Jayewardenepura in 1992. type of education and training received subjects in schools enter universities This four-year programme of studies by prospective accountants, however, and technical colleges every year for has been designed to cover the theo has remained practically the same from further studies in accounting and other retical and practical aspects of account the inception of the ICASL. The total related disciplines. ing required for a high-quality aca number of chartered accountants pro demic and professional degree in ac duced by the ICASL during the 36- Although the Sri Lankan univer counting. Another important feature year period from 1959 to 1995 sity system was established in 1942, it ofthi s programme is its practical train amounted to only 1,680 (ICASL,.1995). did not include commerce as a sepa ing scheme. Under this scheme, every 'The rate of failure at the professional rate discipline in its programmes of undergraduate student is required to examinations of the ICASL has been studies until the beginning of 1960. complete a 60-week programme of extremely high. Consequently, many The Vidyodaya University pioneered practical training in a selected organi school leavers have sought alternative in 'this area by launching two. sation as a compulsory requirement in avenues for becoming professionally bachelor's degree programmes in the third and fourth years of the total qualified accountants. They still enrol Business Administration and Public study programme. However, this ac in large numbers for locally conducted Administration at general and hon counting degree is still not recognised professional examinations of the Brit ours levels. Both these programmes by the ICASL as a sufficient qualifica ish professional bodies. In "order to included a considerable number of ac- tion for meeting the examination re 'counting subjects. The Bachelor of Arts quirement of its membership.

Economic Revtew April/May 1998 27 Comparison of Accounting grammes and examinations conducted activities are handled by the profes Education in Singapore by professional accounting bodies, Sri sional accounting bodies. The modern and Sri Lanka Lanka, even after fourty nine years of accountant should be a dynamic per independence, is still following the son who is competent not only profes Our discussion in the preceding two same old system. Not only Singapore, sionally but also academically and in sections reveals that, despite the simi but also many other countries such as tellectually. It is evident from the ex lar influence of the British system, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, periences of these countries that the there exist a number of differences Canada and the United States, which university is the most appropriate in between Singapore and Sri Lanka to1 followed the same traditional method stitution to organise and offer a broad day in terms of their accounting educa at the initial stage of their educational educational programme required for tion systems. The major differences development, changed it many years producing such a competent account are summarised in Table 1. ago by entrusting the responsibility of ant. By getting the university system accounting education to their univer to provide accounting education re The most striking difference is that sities. Thus, like engineers, doctors quired for meeting the academic and while Singapore, within only four years and lawyers, accountants are also pro professional needs of the country, Sin after independence, has successfully duced primarily by universities in these gapore has been able to produce high- moved away from the old British sys countries. Only the practical training quality accountants locally in suffi tem of producing professional account for prospective accountants and the cient numbers. Through a close liaison ants through the educational pro continuing professional development with the business community and the professional accounting body, the Singaporean university system has Table 1 developed an accounting degree pro gramme which is relevant and appro Major differences in accounting education priate for meeting the cultural and systems of Singapore and Sri Lanka economic needs of the country (Teo and Low, 1993). The three-year Bachelor of Main aspects of differences Singapore Sri Lanka Accounting degree awarded by the Education for Prospective Through the University Through the professional university has been accepted by the accountants system accounting body CICASL) professional accounting body in Singa pore from 1963 as an adequate qualifi- Acceptance of accounting Accounting degree is Accounting degree is not cationfor professional recognition with degree for professional accepted for provisional accepted for provisional out further examination, subject only recognition membership of the membership of the professional to the practical experience. As such, professional body, subject body, subject to practical the university accounting education to practical experience experience. has enabled the Singaporean profes Nature of education Full-time university Block lectures and tutorials sional accounting body (ICAPS) to in provided to prospective education in accounting from time to time, crease its membership from 344 in accountants for three years correspondence course and notes 1964 to 7,444 in 1992 and concentrate in between by ICASL more effectively on the professional development of accountants in the Duration of the accounting 3 years 4 years country (Tan, et al, 1994). degree programme '

Quality of students seeking Students with very high Students who do not have In Sri Lanka, even the four-year' admission to the accounting marks" at GCE A/level sufficient marks to enter Accounting degree with 60-week prac profession seek admission university mostly seek tical experience is not accepted by the to accounting profession admission, to accounting ICASL as an adequate qualification through university degree profession through professional for granting exemptions from its pro examinations. fessional examinations. From its in ception, the ICASL has restricted the Practical training component Ten weeks of training at Sixty weeks of training during in the degree programme the end of second year of third and fourth years of the professional qualification only to those the degree programme degree who pass its own examinations in ad-' dition to completing the required pe Relationship between Direct relationship exists, No direct relationship, No riod of apprenticeship training. Unfor professional body and Committees are well representation from ICASL and tunately, as shown in Table 2, the rate university represented by both university in their committees of failure at these examinations is ICPAS and university. enormously high. The average rate of failure is over 75 per cent. Several Postgraduate Programmes No postgraduate programmes Postgraduate programme reasons- seem to have contributed to in accounting are available at both are available at any level. ., master's and PHD levels. these poor results of the ICASL ex aminations. One principal reason Number of professional 7444 Certified Public 1680 chartered Accountants in points to the inadequate teaching time accountants produced Accountants in 29 years 36 years (1959-1995), devoted to each subject and the inad locally (1963-1992), 257 per year 47 per year equate coverage of subject matter in

"2? Economic Review April/May 1998 the study programme available to Table 2 candidates. Since the professional ac counting body is not a full-time edu Results of Examinatiosns conducted by the Institute cational institution, obviously the of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka -1994 amount of time devoted to lectures, tutorials and assignments and the Title of Number of .Number of Percentage Percentage subject matter covered through these Examination C andidates Passes of Passes of Failure modes in each subject of a full-time university degree programme is much Licentiate Part I 5,074 1,045 21 79 greater than those of a study pro Licentiate Part II 2,008 749 37 63 gramme provided by the professional Professional Part I 1,260 290 23 77 body. On the other hand, a profes Professional Part II 498 111 22 78 sional accounting body like the ICASL Professional Part III 275 63 23 77 21 4 81 .does not have a full-time teaching staff Professional Unit I 19 Professional Unit II 46 2 ' 4 96 who can devote individual attention to the different- needs of students. Fur Source : Annual Report of ICASL 1994. thermore, since the. inception of the ICASL, the approach to accounting gree programmes has enabled the pro accountants is low, the adverse effect education has been on the mechanical fessional accounting bodies in those on the quality of the accounting pro or technical aspects rather than the countries to admit academically supe fession in the country is inevitable. analytical and conceptual aspects of rior and highly competent accountants accounting, with the greatest empha to the profession. By contrast, in Sri Even after the establishment of the sis being placed on financial reporting Lanka students who have not been ICASL, Sri Lankans in large numbers and auditing. able to obtain the high marks required. in each year have depended on a for admission to university degree pro number of British professional account It is apparent from the high failure grammes are the ones who normally ing bodies for obtaining professional rate shown in Table 2 that the ICASL register for examinations of the ICASL qualifications by taking their exami has not been able to produce enough and British professional accounting nations as external candidates. While accountants for the country. In 36 bodies such as ICMA and CACA. Most a considerable number of these candi years, it has produced only 1,680 pro of these students depend on private dates have become fully qualified pro fessional accountants with an annual tutoring to study and prepare for ex fessional accountants, many others aminations of these professional bod supply as low as 47. Since 617 of these who completed only some parts of the ies. Nevertheless, the rate of failure at accountants have left the country for examinations have been employed in these examinations has been extremely employment abroad, the actual number junior accounting positions in numer high due to various reasons such as the of locally qualified professional ac ous organisations in the country. It is low academic level of students and the counts workingin Sri Lanka amounted common knowledge that all these for poor quality of education available to eign professional examinations are to only 1,063 in 1995 (ICASL, 1995). them. Thus, of the large number of based on the subject matter applicable Even when the accountants with Brit students who enrol for these examina to the British economy. Since the Sri ish qualifications such as ACMA, ACCA tions each year, only a few eventually Lankan economy is very much differ and ACA are added to this figure, the qualify as professional accountants. ent from the British in many ways, a' total number of professionally quali What is. obvious from this situation is considerable amount of the subject fied accountants working in Sri Lanka that it is the''second grade'- students .matter covered in the above examina seems to be only around 2,000. For a who have been mostly attracted to the tions is not useful and relevant to a Sri country with 17.9 million people, this accounting profession in Sri Lanka. In Lankan accountant. For example, some is grossly inadequate. By contrast, this regard, it is surprising to see, of the subjects like British Taxation Singapore with only 2.9 million people however, that although students who and British Company Law are totally has over 8,000 professional account * obtain the highest aggregate marks in irrelevant. One should not assume that ants today. Similarly Australia, with ( the commerce stream at the GCE Ad what might be good accounting for a a population quite similar to that of Sri. vanced Level examination in the coun -developed country will automatically Lanka, has reported in 1994 a total of try are admitted to the accounting de be relevant and good for an emerging 99,776 professional accountants, com gree programme at the University of nation and its development process prising 73,460 Certified Practising Sri Jayewardenepura, the graduates (Enthoven, 1973). For accounting to be Accountants and 26,316 Chartered of this programme, are not exempted an effective contributorto the country's Accountants (ASCPA & ICAA, 1994). from the examination requirement of economic development, what prospec the ICASL. Consequently, pome of them' tive accountants study must be relevant In Singapore and many other coun may get diverted to non-accounting to the social, political, legal, and eco tries, students who obtain high marks (^u'eers.Itisapitythatthe/'bestbrains^ nomic conditions within which they at the GCE advanced level or an equiva in the area of accounting education in " are going to operate (Hove, 1986). As lent examination and aspire to pursue the country are not sufficiently en such, the accountants produced an accounting career enter the account couraged to enter the accounting pro-' through studies and examinations ing profession through a university fession. Clearly, if the quality of stu* based on a developed Western country degree programme. Thus, the high dents aspiring to become professional- are unlikely, to be able to adapt them: quality of students entering these de-.

Economic Review April/May 1998 r

selves fully to contribute effectively .year, the School of Accountancy at the for accounting in 1978. By the end of towards meeting the different needs of Nanayang Technological University 1989, it had established similar de the developing economy in Sri Lanka. has enrolled 750 students for its Bach partments and accounting degree pro- \On the other hand, a large amount of elor of Accounting degree programme. -grammes in 50 universities with a valuable foreign exchange has been Its postgraduate programmes include total enrolment of nearly 15,000 ac flowing out of the country every year master's and doctoral degrees in ac counting students (Min, Song and Kim,'. for the payment of registration and. counting. The current teaching staff of 1993). The Sri Lankan university sys examination fees of British professional the School consists of223 highly quali tem still has only one accounting de accounting bodies. In addition, stu fied academics who have produced partment with less than 400 students dents have to pay exorbitant tuition many local case studies, books and for the whole country. . fees to local tutories in preparing for other teaching material for their stu these foreign examinations. It is un dents. They have also been actively Conclusion fortunate to see that the Sri Lankan engaged in research on accounting and accounting profession is still depend related issues and have published nu The existing system of producing ing so heavily on foreign accounting, merous articles in reputed interna accountants through' the educational qualifications even after fourty nine tional journals. By contrast, the De programmes provided by a professional years of independence. The number of partment of Accounting and Finance accounting body is an old British sys students looking for foreign accounting of the University of Sri Jayewar- tem, which is now inadequate to meet qualifications could have been reduced denepura, which was established only the accounting needs of the changing to some extent if the ICASL took steps five years ago, currently has 11 full- and growing economy of Sri Lanka. to provide more flexible opportunities time academics in addition to about 16 Most other countries, including Singa to accounting students oflocal technical visiting lecturers. Of the eleven full- pore, have been able to meet these colleges and universities for obtaining time academics, four are Chartered needs more successfully by providing professional accounting qualifications Accountants with two having doctoral prospective accountants with a broad through their studies. degrees as well. Seven members of the educational background through uni staff have master's degree qualifica versities and technical colleges. When compared with the situation tions. However, accounting academics in Sri Lanka have not still made any in Singapore, the lack of close liaison Therefore, it is necessary for the significant progress in research and and co-ordination of educational insti educational authorities and the pro publication ofj local case studies, text tutions with the professional account fessional accounting body in Sri Lanka books and other teaching material. ing body and the business community to follow suit, if the accounting profes Postgraduate courses are also not avail- is seen to be a significant weakness in sion is to be able to make its maximum , able still for accounting students. Nev the university accounting education in contribution to economic development ertheless, it is evident from the com Sri Lanka. Such liaison and co-ordina of the country. tion are necessary for making the ac mendable achievements of the Univer counting degree programme more ap sity of Sri Jayewardenepura within a propriate and relevant to the needs short period of time that the account of the business community and the ing education system in Sri Lanka accounting profession. In most coun would have made a much greater tries where education for prospective progress by now, if the university sys accountants is provided by universi tem took steps much earlier to estab ties, in addition to having close liaison lish accounting departments and ac ; with universities, professional account counting degree programmes not only ing bodies also maintain a close super in the above university but also in a vision of the accounting degree pro few other universities. The major rea grammes through an accreditation, son for this delay and reluctance of the scheme. Under this scheme, the ac university authorities to set up ac counting degree programme of each, counting departments and degree pro university is reviewed by the profes* . grammes in Sri Lanka was the non- sional: accounting body from time to acceptance of a university accounting time for renewing the accreditation, degree by the ICASL for professional- status of each programme. Thus, this recognition. It is important, however, .scheme has. enabled the university for educational authorities to consider system.in those counties to maintain, more seriously, that university educa the high quality of accounting degrees. tion in accounting is extremely impor tant for producing competent account . As mentioned previously,, account ants for the country. In most developed ing education at both-undergraduate and fast developing nations, universi and postgraduate levels has developed ties play .the major role in producing rapidly in Singapore mainly as a result, accountants who can contribute effec of its prompt recognition and encour tively to the nation's development agement by the professional account process. For example, Korea estab ing body. JFor the 1996-97 academic lished-its first university, department

30 Economic Review April/May 1998