Pakistan is in crisis and everyone has to play its role

Please throw light on your educational background.

I did M.com with 2nd position and then proceeded to UK for CA. I am also Chartered Account from Canada, Pakistan and ACCA from UK.

Why did you come back from UK?

When I qualified CA in UK in 1980, I decided to come back because there were no classes or coaching centres for CA in Pakistan until then. Besides, I realised that the level of education in UK was much advanced and I wanted to bring that in Pakistan as well. That was the main reason I came back to Pakistan.

When were CA classes started in Pakistan?

I came back from UK and started providing accountancy coaching. I started chartered accountancy classes because at that time CA was very difficult. We started the classes and published books to facilitate CA in Pakistan.

Considering my knowledge and interest in CA, I was given the portfolio of Chairman Education Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountancy of Pakistan. With my team, I revised all the syllabus of CA known as Educational Reforms in CA Professional in Pakistan.
What is the scope of CA/ACCA in Pakistan?

CA has vast scope but ACCA is in a struggling phase in Pakistan. It is due to the reason that people keep chasing a rat race and do not care what will happen when there is saturation level. There are more than 50,000 students doing ACCA while the job openings are quite scarce, whereas the CA professionals grab a major share in the job market.

Now, the ACCA students are also channelizing themselves into CA. There are two things in this regard; one is Pakistani Chartered Accountancy and second is English Chartered Accountancy. We are offering English Chartered Accountancy with the collaboration of England.

What are the job opportunities for Chartered Accountants?

Today a chartered accountant gets the starting salary of around offered 80,000 to 90,000 per month along with car and other benefits.

What is the success percentage of CA candidates annually?

There are six levels in CA and when one passes the last level, he is considered to qualify for CA. If we talk about final level the success rate is between 15 to 20 %. Annually, 500 to 600 candidates are passing the CA exams. In Pakistan, there are 5000 chartered accountants and by adding 500 the average is commendable.

In the past many years we have seen mushroom growth of colleges and universities but the standard of education is not up to mark. What do you think?

I will say two things. One is that there are a number of institutions offering CA and 50,000 students are studying ACCA. But the actual passing rate is not more than 15-20 %. It means that level of teaching is not up to the mark. In UK, the ACCA success rate is 50 %.

This clearly shows that majority of the institutions here, are not equipping the students with high level education. Secondly, the result-oriented study is the need of the hour to enhance the success rate.

Any Message
Today if we do not perform well, we cannot survive in the current scenario. Pakistan is in crisis and everyone has to play its role ‘educationists, politicians, businessmen’ all alike. Being an educationist, I am glad I am doing my share of service.