Sunday February 19, 2012

A special route for non-grads

STUDENTS who want to get a head start on their peers, and become a part of one of the largest accounting and advisory networks in the world, have been signing up with BDO Malaysia under their unique Special ICAEW (The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales) Scheme for High Flyers.

What more, they can do this all in Malaysia even without a degree, complete with employment at a leading professional services firm.

Developed in conjunction with ICAEW, a world leader of the accountancy and finance profession, and Sunway-TES, a leading professional accountancy programmes provider, this scheme allows A-Level, STPM and degree holders alike to gain the internationally-recognised ACA qualification through 23 months’ full-time studies and Structured Internship Programme, followed by a three-year training contract with BDO.

Gan (second from right) poses with award winners (from left) Sing Yee, Vivian and Sze Hui.

“More business professionals in the UK have an ACA than an MBA; this is because in addition to post-graduate study there are also non-graduate routes that can lead into the ACA.

“This means bright, committed students who are not from a traditional university background can still work to gain a rigorous, internationally-recognised, professional qualification,” said ICAEW South East Asia regional director Mark Billington.

“Although ACA students here in Malaysia have traditionally entered through the university stream, a growing number of non-graduates are training in firms such as BDO, and have done extremely well in international examinations,” he added.

ICAEW is a professional membership organisation, supporting over 138,000 chartered accountants around the world.

It is a founder member of the Global Accounting Alliance, which represents around 775,000 of the world’s leading professional accountants in over 165 countries around the globe, to promote quality services, share information and collaborate on important international issues.

Local success stories of non-graduate ICAEW students include Ng Sing Yee, who was recently awarded the Simon Morris Memorial Prize for scoring the highest average marks among non-graduate students in the global ICAEW ACA exams.

In December 2010, Kwong Sze Hui and Vivian Teh – both non-graduates – jointly placed first for the ICAEW Financial Accounting paper and were awarded the Spicer and Pegler’s Prize.

All three students are sponsored by and working at BDO Malaysia.

BDO Malaysia managing partner Datuk Gan Ah Tee said: “BDO has been training ACA students for a few years now and we are very impressed with the calibre of students as well as their dedication to work and studies.”

“We have also ensured that we provide students with the kind of job exposure and support they need, and recent prize wins have shown that our efforts have been successful,” he added.

BDO Malaysia is a member firm of BDO International, the world’s fifth largest network of professional service firms.

BDO International employs over 48,767 partners and staff with 1,118 offices in 135 countries.

In Malaysia, the BDO group is a leading professional services firm providing audit, advisory and tax services to businesses ranging from established multinational conglomerates to growth oriented organisations, whether public or private.

Sunway College executive director Teo Ee Sing said: “Seeing a growing need among pre-graduate students, we worked with ICAEW and BDO to create the Special lCAEW Scheme for High Flyers to enable more students to join the global world of accounting and finance.”

“Degree holders from both accounting and non-accounting backgrounds are also invited to apply to the scheme as they may qualify for credit exemptions,” he added.

Sunway-TES, a subsidiary of the Sunway Education Group, is the only ICAEW Partner in Learning in Malaysia, and provides internationally recognised and quality professional accounting and financial programmes to meet the needs and interests of full-time and part-time students, both locally and internationally.

Find out more on the Special ICAEW Scheme for High Flyers at a preview at BDO’s office on Feb 25 at 10.30am.

For more information, call Soo Min (03-74918622 ext 3378) or Siew Fong (03-26162843).

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