To Me Today at 1:36 AM Student Newsletter (The Institute of Cost Accountants of India) Presidents Message for Students Posted: Dear Students, When I wrote to you a month ago, I had informed you that a study of the performance has been undertaken by the Examination department, to analyze students performance from the view point of the six skills ie. Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation. This time I write to you in considerable detail, sharing the trends emerging from the department’s exercise. At the end, I am adding my thoughts on how the world is changing and how our examination patterns are changing to focus on new and changing expectations from you- the-professionals of tomorrow and so what changes in approach to study and exam you need to make. In my next letter, I will talk about performance in the Final exams. After a sample study of nearly 2000 answers pertaining to Syllabus 2012 across the various intermediate papers, the department concludes that several students have performed poorly on the Analytical Skill, followed by Application Skill (the top two skills assessed at the Intermediate level). What is disturbing is that the performance in the two lower skills of Comprehension and Knowledge is only slightly better. A vast number - around 80% in the representative sample – have performed pretty poor in all four skill levels. I am sharing with you a few examples to help you understand what I am talking about. Competency Observation Knowledge Knowledge is the first step and fundamental competency requirement. Many scored dismally low marks and very few showed they have ‘passing’ knowledge! Many did not know anything when asked to just list down the various phases in a simulation process. Eg. Throughput accounting is a concept which is around from 1980s. So what are its problems associated with it is well known by now. But many were completely ignorant of this. Eg. Knowledge of CENVAT procedures is vital for a cost accountant aspiring to work in manufacturing sector. Very few knew the steps which are simple procedure. Not just CENVAT but even other statutory procedures were not answered properly. Comprehension Overall, this is an area where more students have performed relatively better. However, Simple explanation of terms was not possible for the majority of students Half the students did not know the basic difference between Standard Costing and Budgetary Control, as control tools. Knowing what tool is to be used for what purpose is as simple but important as the use of sugar and salt. Clear understanding of CENVAT provisions missing from many. This is to be expected considering the knowledge of CENVAT was found to be wanting in the previous segment. Whether a particular tax is applicable to a transaction should be known clearly. A majority of students knew this. However this is an exception. Application A simple calculation of EBQ has not been done well by many. Calculating comparative costs of alternative scenarios and their related profitability is a standard expectation in CMA paper. Most failed in this routine exercise missing out on 10 precious marks. Calculating operating cost of running a bus was not managed by many. Basic cost computing skills are found wanting in these students. Calculating Service Charge payable is an elementary requirement while learning about Service Tax. Most could not do this. Ability to identify service component in a works contract is key expectation from a student at this level. If the concept is understood well, then separating sales value of material supplied and value of service in a works contract bill is not all that difficult. Many had absolutely no idea on this key feature. Analysis A question on degrees of price discrimination asked for a discussion like stating the pros and cons with suitable examples. To perform well, it required a thorough understanding of Pigous three degrees of price discrimination. Such an understanding would have enabled the student to tackle this question fairly easily. Given that the average writing speed is 30 wpm and that this question carried four marks, the size of the answer should have been around 200 words. Another skill required is ability to write clearly and precisely in English (or Hindi). Very few students met these expectations. Another question relating to pricing, even if it belonged to a different paper found same number of students failing to do This seems to indicate that students do not have a good understanding of the pricing concept and its various strategic and accounting uses. Learning to leverage knowledge gained by studying one topic/subject to answer a question from another topic/subject is a useful skill. Opportunity missed: knowing a single concept well could have earned 7 marks in all. Most could not answer a rather simple question on audit. Some had answered yes or no (may have been making wild guess) and then failed to explain why they chose to say yes or no. They should have known that a four mark question would require a 150 to 200 words answer. Just a yes or no won’t work. A professional not only knows what to do, and how to do but also why to do things. Here again just a bit of good understanding of what is propriety audit (for example) would have helped the student to gain full marks. However it is seen that no one (in this sample) got the full eight marks. It appears from the results of the study that 60 to 70 percent of students have either not taken the examination seriously or they have not prepared themselves for an examination of professional grade. The questions have been fairly simple and direct. What is thus emerging is that a large number of students have been out of sync with the requirements and have just concentrated on reproducing memorized text or applied a set of steps in solving problems that they are familiar with. Anything that requires a bit of demonstration of ones real understanding of the subject (comprehension skill) or applying knowledge to a context or choosing among alternatives has not been paid attention either while learning the subject or while preparing for the exam. What you should do The pattern of examination is changing all over the world recently. New knowledge is generated every day and hour. While computers have taken over routine work, new complexities are emerging that keep us professionals busy updating our knowledge and skills. So the emphasis in examinations is shifting away from merely recalling facts and figures or making simple computations in standard formats applying traditional methods. The new focus is not on what you know but how good are you in applying it to real life situations and how good you are in analyzing a situation and coming up with alternative ways of solving a problem and exploiting an opportunity. This translates to gaining mastery over the four competencies required at the Intermediate stage referred above. So your approach to preparing for the Institute’s exam must also undergo changes. You need to do the following: You must spend time to gain a clear idea of various concepts, principles, methods etc. You must also update yourself on a daily basis by Reading Business Newspapers / Magazines, attending webinars etc. After gaining good understanding of various topics of the subject you must do many exercises and examples to gain the ability to solve the problems given in examination paper. You should then learn how such ideas or principles are used in real life and how they affect - positively or negatively - real life. Try to link what you have learnt to daily events by regularly reading business newspapers. I also encourage you to express your opinion and suggestions using President’s portal. Finally, it is very important to take as many simulated tests as possible to test yourself. These tests have to be taken as frequently as possible and not bunched together at the end of all your study. Ideally after you complete your learning of a topic and exercises under it, you should take a test. You may do it alone or along with friends. Today technology is available to aid in your learning and testing. Do some Google search to find out how technology can help you or ask your teachers to recommend these web based tools, some of which are downloadable or available on your smart phone. Recent studies have shown that all exams are stressful and it is absolutely important for a student to have a good sleep of six to eight hours on the previous night before the day of an examination. I would add that a day before your week of examination starts, you should have completed all your revisions and simulation tests and allow yourself 24 hours of relaxation. Take on an examination when your body mind is relaxed and refreshed. From the Institute’s side, I would initiate steps to put more resources in your hands so that the diligent student can look to the Student Portal as a one stop shop for all the learning needs to pass the examination. I re-assure the students that we will upgrade the study materials periodically and that the same is and will be available in the soft form in the Students portal. We are in the midst of a busy festive season. I trust that I have provided you some useful inputs to help your preparation for the next exam coming up in December. Remember that unless the right methods are adopted, right outcomes cannot be guaranteed. It is now up to you to brace yourself for the challenge, go about your study and exam preparation in the right way and perform well in the exam and celebrate your success. Your Institute and I, want to see you succeed. As the ad line of an Indian conglomerate based out of Kolkata used to say; The best means of growth comes from within Take care and stay focused. Cheers!
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 13:35:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015