Migrating to a more challenging landscape?

A greater number of students are abandoning Sciences to become Chartered Accountants, but acquiring the degree is not a cake walk

The Indian economy is one of the fastest growing economies and the need for talented professionals too is growing rapidly. Choosing a stream after Class X could be extremely difficult as what you study later will stand as a foundation on which to build your career. Many young students are now moving away from Sciences towards Commerce, which is fast gaining popularity among students.

The stream helps students acquire the knowledge of business, trade, basics of economics and industrial policies. A commerce student can look forward to a lucrative career by pursuing CA (Chartered Accountancy) and many today prefer this field as the required course is inexpensive compared to other professional courses offered. CA is a correspondence based course; there are a few private institutions that offer coaching. It is indeed a very difficult course and is tough to complete in one go.

Jaydeep Bhatnagar, a student pursuing CA, says the subject is so vast that the concept of Sundays and festivals doesn’t exist in his dictionary. He further adds, “It’s definitely not a cake walk. The subjects are vast and tough. Information Technology and Strategic Management in Group-II and Cost Accounting in Group-I are the biggest nightmares while pursuing second level of CA, which is IPCC (Integrated Proficiency Competence Course).

If you fail to clear the exams in one go, then everything you study that particular year becomes null and void as subjects keep changing with new amendments made every year to company law and taxation.” Many feel that the course comes with too many papers to clear in different groups and the students tend to lose interest over a period. “It’s a vast subject, there are different levels to clear and the way the exams are conducted is quite tedious.

First you have to appear for the entrance exam called CPT (Common Proficiency Test). The next level is IPCC (Integrated Proficiency Competence Course), which is divided into two groups with seven subjects to clear and the last level is CA final. You have to appear for all the papers and even if you fail to clear one subject, you end up repeating the group. Which means you have to appear for all the subjects again,” expressed Avanti Chavla, a student pursuing CA.

Chartered Accountancy is much better placed when compared to other commerce courses. But after studying for hours together and giving numerous attempts, students still don’t clear the papers and fail to know the reason behind it. “Forty is the pass mark per subject but there is an aggregate rule. For example, in Group-I, there are four subjects for a total of160 marks. But that’s not the aggregate score, the student should score a minimum of 200 out of 400.

Even if you fail to clear one subject or miss the aggregate, you will to write the whole group. All the papers are evaluated by Chartered Accountants, but the correction pattern is not known which stands as another drawback,” says Kaushik Somayajulu, a student who faced several hurdles while pursuing IPCC.

A few sum up this whole journey ‘as a very brave endeavor’. “I met many students who, passionately started doing CA, but couldn’t complete it even after spending three-four years. Some of them are left with both the groups, some are left with one group and few are still in their IPCC, hoping to see themselves as Chartered Accountants some day. A few students, who do extremely well, were not able to make it.

They, being semi qualified, do much better than some of the Chartered Accountants I know, but unfortunately are still away from the much-coveted CA degree. One of my colleagues was pursuing CA for the last four years and had cleared only IPCC. She attempted CA finals the last three times but was unable to clear it. She finally decided to join a business management course,” expresses Tanuja Naidu, a Chartered Accountant.

After clearing IPCC, a student undergoes what is known as Articleship (similar to Internship) under a practicing CA for three years. During this period, the student has to even take up coaching for CA Final. Many students complain that this phase is critical as they have to concentrate on both their Articleship and the CA final.

“The company or firm where we work does not give us enough study leave, so we are left to choose whether not to not work at all or work in some small firms that allow us to take leave. This situation creates numerous problems later, as we fail to have relevant experience but have a degree.

For any job opening, a CA who has good work experience would be preferred over a student who has a degree but hasn’t seen the insides of an office,” highlights Vasanthi R, a student pursuing CA. A few students ask if it is worthwhile to appear for their papers without any hope of seeing light at the end of the tunnel as they do not have a clue of what went wrong.

“After giving four-five years of our lives, we don’t want to end up without any tangible result. I haven’t cleared IPCC even after two attempts now, so I have spent close to a year and a half. The issue here is we can’t quit because the society would perhaps brand us a loser. The feeling of social disrespect and the that I couldn’t do it keeps me going,” expressed Avinash Jayaram, a student pursuing CA.

“You might land yourselves in a situation where you would have won the battle of exams but at the cost of other important things in life,” underscores Neetha Baruah, a student-counsellor. She further adds, “I know people who finally managed to clear CA but at an age when their friends reached a managerial position. Some cleared the papers at the cost of not pursuing any other interest or hobby or even a job. They get so emotionally attached to the thought of clearing the exams at any cost.”

By:Navatha Y