ICAN moves to safeguard integrity, review syllabus

In line with market realities, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has reviewed its examination syllabus to safeguard integrity of the profession, update course contents and ensure that the institute’s certificates remain globally competitive.

Accordingly, the contents of the new syllabus have been re-structured and re-arranged to adequately capture and present contemporary issues in the profession in a more easy-to-understand manner. Also, the review has so far reduced the number of subjects in the syllabus to 15 from 16.

Speaking at the unveiling of the new 2019 professional examinations syllabus in Lagos, President of ICAN, Alhaji Isma’ila Zakari explained that the review takes place every five years, thus, the action is overtly profound, since the extant syllabus of the Institute’s Professional Examinations was unveiled in 2014. He said the reviewed syllabus would take effect from November 2019.

“We did not just arrive at this point of a new syllabus for our professional examinations. The governing council set up a syllabus review technical Committee with membership drawn from its student affairs and professional examinations committees. The technical committee’s robust review process started with the harvesting of ideas from various stakeholders which include, examiners, employees and employment agencies, among others, through administration of questionnaire. The responses were critically reviewed and dimensioned, and findings were thereafter aptly integrated into the new syllabus,” he said.

The ICAN boss disclosed that with the development, students would now sit for five courses in each of the levels foundation, skills and professional examination.