ACCA signs MoU with Ministry of Education Malaysia
ACCA (The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) signed Memorandum of Understanding on 25 June 2007 as part of the Government’s efforts to raise education standards, and more importantly to ensure that the syllabus and qualification for Malaysian students are relevant.
The MoU between MOE and ACCA is part of the ongoing education reforms which aim to bring up to date the local teaching methodology, the syllabus and to benchmark against the world standards. This initiative will allow SPM students to enjoy exemption for CAT (Certified Accounting Technician) Introductory Level papers of Paper 1 and Paper 2. With these exemptions, SPM students can complete their CAT and ACCA qualifications much earlier as the new SPM syllabus is recognised by international standard.
“ACCA is extremely honoured to be invited by the Ministry to be part in this initiative. We believe that the initiative to review the current syllabus of the SPM Principles of Accounting and benchmarked the new syllabus against international benchmarking is a very foresighted move,” said Tay Kay Luan, ACCA Regional Director for ASEAN & Australasia, after the MoU signing ceremony.
This ‘International Benchmarking Project’, will start with a pilot project involving about 400 Form 5 students from 150 selected schools. The phase one project will run from May 2007 until September 2007.
This initiative with MOE will eventually benefit all SPM students as the Ministry is aiming for full implementation by the year 2009. This means that an SPM student who takes up Principles of Accounting will be exempted from sitting Paper 1 and Paper 2 for CAT.
“The word ‘certified’ (for CAT) is misnomer, as the examination standards at the final stage of the CAT qualification is in fact of comparable to the first year of a UK Bachelors Degree Programme.
“Currently we have more than 5,200 students studying CAT nationwide – in fact Malaysia is at second place for having the most number of students studying CAT in the world. Indeed our MoU with MOE will give opportunities to more students in Malaysia to choose careers in accountancy and finance,” says Tay further.
The Malaysian Examinations Syndicate will work with ACCA to develop the instruments of assessments. The details are expected to be finalised soon.
Notes to editor
1. ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the largest and fastest-growing international accountancy body with 296,000 students and 115,000 members in 170 countries. Our mission is to be the leading global professional accountancy body by reputation, influence and size, offering the first choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management. www.accaglobal.com
2. Most of the students in Malaysia study CAT after their SPM examinations, with nine papers to be completed. Students have the options to either to start working after completing all the examinations or continue to study for professional ACCA qualification and pursue their ambition to be finance professionals.
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