ICPAU to Rolls Out New Syllabus Due to Decline in Student's Performance

The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU) has revealed that the National Council of Higher Education has approved its new syllabus which is expected to be rolled out next year.

The institute made the revelation during the release of ICAPU results for the September 2022 exams, showing a slight decline in performance.

Speaking to the media during a news conference in Kampala, Othieno Mayende, the president of ICPAU, said the institute last revised its syllabus in 2015 and this has been a routine.

He explained the exams that were done in September last year, would have been in the new syllabus if it was not because of Covid-19.

“It was long and tedious to get this new syllabus approved and it is a very important item in the calendar of our institute,” he noted.

The chairperson Public Accountants Examinations Board (PAEB) Geoffrey Byamugisha told The Nile Post that the institute is changing the syllabus because the profession has to be kept up to date and relevant to the requirements of their stakeholders.

“That is the main reason why we changed the syllabus. We keep on reviewing, looking at requirements and what is driving the world and what has changed. With all those in mind we get back and look at our syllabus and have to keep it up to date and relevant, “he said.

Byamugisha said 3,555 candidates registered for the September 2022 examinations of which 94.7% (or 3,367) turned up for the examinations.

The exam results seen by the Nile Post indicated a drop in the average pass rate from 39.6% in the March diet to 35.8%.

Byamugisha blamed this poor performance partly on inadequate preparation by the candidates.

“PAEB has noted unimpressive performance in the core/computational/ analytical subjects including Integration of Knowledge, owing to among others, gaps in interpretation, computation, communication and analytical skills,” he said.

He said that the CPA as a professional course is demanding, and requires sufficient preparation for the exams.

In terms of gender, out of the 4,762 papers attempted, 2,477 (52%) were by females and 2,285 (48%) by males. 897 (36.2%) of the females and 809 (35%) of the males passed the individual papers they attempted.

ICPAU, Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda, Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU)