ICAI plans to hold the Common Proficiency Test online in 11 cities in December
Some of the one lakh Chartered Accountancy aspirants registering for the Institute of Chartered Accounts of India’s (ICAI’s) entrance test may attempt it online for the first time, in 11 cities this December. A yet-unknown but limited number of slots for the online Common Proficiency Test (CPT) were to be up for grabs on a first-come-first-served basis.
In addition to its conventional test, ICAI plans to hold it online, as a pilot project, on December 7 at centres in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Kanpur, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Nagpur. While the deadline for CPT registration was October 1, application for the exam was scheduled to begin on October 6 and will take place till October 26 or in the case of the online CPT, when all the slots are filled, “whichever is earlier.”
Says Ved Jain, President, ICAI, “Students can choose only one option,” – either the online test, or the paper-based one scheduled for December 14.
Going by official figures, the December test is drawing a large number of contenders for the Chartered Accountancy programme, revamped in 2006. About one lakh have registered for it as compared to 76,000 who sat for the CPT in June 2008.
Meanwhile, in its ever-flowing stream of activities, ICAI recently formally registered the chartered Accountants’ Student Benevolent Fund. The Fund promises payment of up to Rs. 1 lakh for treatment of specified, serious illnesses and the same amount as ex-gratia in case of unnatural or premature death. Students will not have to chip in anything in the kitty. The ICAI president has requested members to “generously” donate so the institute can give financial assistance as well as other benefits to poor and deserving learners.
ICAI is also going to introduce classroom-based certificate programmes in International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and Valuation in mid-October. The 80-hour IFRS programme is slated for debut in Delhi and Mumbai and the 100-hour Valuation course in Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai. Registration is expected to begin on October 1. Though these continuing education courses are meant for CAs, Jain said, “We can welcome people concerned with this in government ministries and departments, as well.”
