Accounting Technicians Diploma is the best performed course according to the latest results released by Public Accountants Examinations Board of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda.
According to the results released Wednesday at Imperial Royale Hotel, the average pass rate of the 286 candidates who sat for the June 2017 examinations is 44.3%. However, this was a decline from 48.5% the average pass rate registered in November last year.
The second best performed course is Certified Tax Advisor (CTA) having registered an average pass rate of 42.2% from the 86 candidates that sat for the course. This was the second sitting for the CTA course since its inception last year.
The worst performed course was the Certified Public Accountants of Uganda. The average pass rate in this course was 35.0% compared to 43.6% in November 2016.
The president of ICPAU Protazio Begumisa blamed the decline and general poor performance on several factors. Among those pointed out was the lack of study materials and little time for the courses.
“The decline in performance was caused by variations in study conditions. Many of our students are working and are engaged most of the time,” Begumisa said further adding that the performance in the CPA course had declined.
“Having all students in one session at ago is a huge challenge. Majority of our students are upcountry and hardly interact with the institute, which makes orienting them very hard. The little information they have is from the internet. Yet we are not a teaching institution or University that we ask what is taught….. We ask what professionals ought to know,” he added.
He further urged his senior colleagues in the profession to come to the help of most.
“We have so many good people in the profession but unfortunately, many don’t want to class (as lecturers) because it’s less paying than where they are employed. It’s only a few of us doing it and we are doing it out of passion and the love to help others. We call upon other senior members in the profession to join us (as lecturers),” Begumisa noted.
Meanwhile, he also informed the press that they had put some measures in place to counter the decline in performances. Some of that is the securing of study materials which are now available and in use.
“These are high quality materials. Purchase of study materials (Shs50, 000) will be a condition for the first time registration for an examination in a subject. This condition starts with the November 2017 examinations. We want to be sure that the students preparing for examinations have accessed the same basic study materials,” Begumisa added.
Exams were done from seven examination centres of Arua, Fort Portal, Gulu, Kampala, Mbale, Mbarara and Nkozi. They were held from May 29 May to June 5, 2017.
