MUSCAT -- The Oman Chapter of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) had a group discussion on "Growing importance of professional qualifications in Oman" on the sidelines of a press conference here yesterday. The participants, Mohammed Sajid Khan, Manager, ACCA Oman, Stephen A Shields, Head, Corporate Development, ACCA Middle East, Ahmed Saud al Zakwany, Chief Internal Auditor, Oman LNG LLC, Ahmed Amor al Esry, Executive Manager, Ernst & Young, and Nasser al Mughairy, Managing Partner, Abu Timam Grant Thornton, underlined the need for formal recognition of professional qualifications by the government in the country's educational framework.
Al Mughairy said the Ministry of Higher Education has set up a committee to look into the issue. So far no Middle East country has recognised professional qualifications and Oman can take the lead in giving formal recognition to these qualifications, he added. Shields said there is an acute shortage of professionally qualified accountants in the region and stressed the need for creating awareness about the importance of professional qualifications in building a good career. Sajid Khan said ACCA offers qualficiations in accountancy, finance and management.
"We support our students and members throughout their careers, providing services through a network of nine ACCA-accredited tuition providers in Oman", he said. Presently, there are 1,680 students in Oman pursuing any of the ACCA qualifications and 70 per cent of them are Omanis. Moreover, there are 14 affiliates and 60 members. The affiliates are those who have qualified all the ACCA examinations but have to fulfil experience requirements of three years and members are full-fledged professionals who have qualified ACCA examinations and completed the required practical training of three years. ACCA has a unversity and college registration scheme under which the tuition providers are accredited.
In Oman the nine tuition providers are SQU, College of Banking & Financial studies, Majan College, Polyglot Institute Oman (Wataya and Al Hail), National Training Institute, Vision Institute of Professional Studies, Nice Institute of Computer Education and Azzan Bin Qais Private School. Of the 19 tuition providers in the Middle East, the nine in Oman have produced the best results, said Sajid Khan.
By Staff Reporter
© Oman Daily Observer 2007
