… As ICAZ records lowest pass rate
BUSINESS REPORTER
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe (ICAZ) has reported its lowest pass rate in history, underscoring the threat of widespread chartered accountants (CAs) shortages.
Business Times can report that 37% of the 144 candidates who sat for the November 2020 Initial Test of Competency (ITC) examinations passed. This reflects a 24 percentage points drop from an average pass rate of 61% recorded in the previous three sittings.
This means only 53 candidates will be able to proceed to the Assessment of Professional Competency (APC) examinations, which is the final qualifying examination.
Of the 173 aspiring CAs that sat for the November 2020 APC examinations, 60 students or 35% of those passed. This was another huge slump from 73% of 2019 and 61% of 2018.
ICAZ chief executive officer Gloria Zvaravanhu expressed disquiet saying results were worrisome and there was a highly likelihood of a significant downstream effect on the number of CAs that would be produced in the next two years.
“These are indeed our all-time low pass rates, the 2020 academic year was certainly not easy on the students due to the Covid-19 Pandemic” she said.
She added: “While we are doing a more thorough research on the low results with a view to addressing any shortcomings to avoid a repeat, we generally think that the students might have struggled to adapt to virtual learning and coping with also working from home. The exams are already very tough and adding the new dynamics arising from Covid-19 must have taken its toll on most of them.”
Zvaravanhu said those that failed the examinations would have opportunities to rewrite in September and December 2021 and the Institute would will do its best to “support them for the best outcome”.
Analysts say the low pass rate means the number of CAs admitted to ICAZ would be significantly lowered in the next two years.
ICAZ usually admits between 100 and 150 members annually, which will not be possible in the next two years. Consequently, this could mean that there will be not enough CAs to meet market requirements in the next two years.
Exacerbating the situation would be the fact that one in every two CA (Z) choose to work outside of Zimbabwe.
Official data obtained from ICAZ shows that Zimbabwe has 2400 CAs and half of them are resident outside of Zimbabwe.
Other countries in the region appear to have suffered the same fate.
The neighbouring South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) also reported an equally low pass rate on the same qualifying examinations with SAICA recording a 43% pass rate on APC, the lowest in history.
As a result, SAICA has since ordered a probe into why aspiring CAs were failing their competency tests.
This means, the decline in pass rates, will certainly push up demand for CAs in the region in the next two years due to the looming shortage.
