CIMA President Gulzari Babber said the number of new students in 2009, 2010 and 2011 were 17,000, 23,000 and 26,000, respectively. PHOTO: cimaglobal.com
KARACHI: Over 29,000 new students joined the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in 2012, taking the total population of CIMA students and members worldwide to over 200,000, according to a press statement released on Wednesday.
Speaking to The Express Tribune from London, CIMA President Gulzari Babber said the number of new students in 2009, 2010 and 2011 were 17,000, 23,000 and 26,000, respectively. Therefore, the compound annual growth rate of new students has been 19.5% for the last three years.
He added the annual student recruitment in Pakistan has increased 300% since CIMA opened its office in Karachi in April 2009.
CIMA is one of the largest professional bodies of management accountants internationally. It has offices in all major countries of the world, including the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, China and Singapore, with its members and students present in 176 countries.
In an interview with The Express Tribune in January, Babber had noted that CIMA had 115 members in Pakistan while the number of its students – including part-qualified students who had yet to pass all five examination levels – was 3,000.
The statement said a record number of new students joined CIMA in Poland and Russia in 2012 while student recruitment in Bangladesh and Ukraine increased 303% and 235%, respectively. Student enrolment in Nigeria almost doubled in 2012.
Babber said a lack of basic understanding as to what makes a management accountant different from members of other accounting bodies is the biggest challenge that CIMA faces particularly in Pakistan. Another major challenge that CIMA faces in Pakistan is related to its teaching.
“Teaching for CIMA is very different from chartered accountancy teaching. It’s all about application, interpretation and insight.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 21st, 2013.
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Not only there is confusion among employers as what is CIMA, there is a perception in Pakistan that CIMA is of no value to the businesses here. I am a CIMA finalists and I hate it when I go to a job interview and people ask me, "WHAT IS CIMA? HOW LONG A COURSR IT IS"..
CIMA needs to work on this. Their students and members in Pakistan have to look towards other qualifications to pursue their career..