The acquisition of relevant skills should be a life-long matter especially because of the increasingly dynamic nature of the work environment. The continuous development of skills should, therefore, attract not only the attention of universities and professional organizations, but also of employers of labour. The role of employers in the narrative should not be the usual unbridled complaints about alleged deficiencies in several skills among graduates, but the actions taken to mitigate the situation. Skills deficiencies are not a one-off transaction. They exist pre and post professional qualification and even as one moves from one level to another in employment. The time to unbridle our greed and appetite for complaints about poor skills is now. There are a lot we could do collectively to improve the situation.
I am not exhibiting any prescience but I perceive in my heart that every professional organization needs qualities that will continue to cement its reputation and relationship with relevant stakeholders. Those qualities include confidence and forcefulness of its members in terms of expertise built on relevant skills. In the face of the evasion of ICT in all professions, can it be said, for instance, that the future of the accounting profession looks pretty sunny? There is need for the continuous reorientation of accounting education in order to regularly hone the skills of professional accountants. It is not sufficient to churn out accountants equipped only with the general professional knowledge. It is in this context that the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) introduced seven distinct areas of accountancy (Faculties) as a platform for the acquisition of specialized skills for members. The faculties include: audit, investigation and forensic accounting; corporate financial management; financial reporting; insolvency and corporate re-engineering; public finance management; taxation and fiscal policy management; and consultancy and information technology.
The operation of the faculties is a vindication of ICAN as a responsive and responsible professional organization that cares about the future and the fortunes of its stakeholders in the true spirit of the public interest obligation of the accounting profession. The benefits of the faculties are enormous both to the members, the firms, regulatory bodies and others who have an operational interest in the services of the profession. The Consultancy and Information Technology Faculty is an Ace among the faculties and thus, the toast of the members. This is not surprising if considered in the context of the observation of Ray Dalio- the hedge fund guru, who notes that we’re headed for a world where you are “either going to be able to write algorithms and speak that language or be replaced by algorithms.” The Institute is not just setting the pace in producing accountants who are brilliant and ethically sensitive, but also ICT geek at heart and head. This is imperative since ethics and ICT are two main throttles of successful professional life. These shield accountants from unemployment and underemployment and instil in them the public interest consciousnesswhich represents the hallmark of the profession. The initiative of the Institute in creating faculties may not be novel but it is a high value creating endeavour which other professional organizations could replicate.
Besides professional organizations creating platforms for skills development, there are variants of educational systems that the government could adopt to overcome the skills-helpless situation and arrive at a strikingly different position. As a country, we could take a cue from the German Vocational Education System(GVES) that is deeply rooted in that country. The system is designed to adapt to the changing needs of the labour market. There is the Dual Vocational System where students attend classes at a vocational school (say twice a week) and receive on-the-job training at a company (thrice a week) for a period ranging from 24 and 36 months. There is also the Dual Vocational Degrees which are a special form of degree programme and usually lasts for between 36 and 60 months. It combines studies at a tertiary institution such as a University and on-the-job and training at a company leading to the award of a degree and a certificate on successful completion of the programme. This hallmark of the system is that on graduation, the relevant skills are already developed and consequently, training of entry level graduates are eliminated. In many cases, graduates with degree and vocational certificates are more sought after than conventional university graduates. This helps to reduce youth unemployment in Germany and in other countries operating the same model. This programme is in contrast with regular degrees available in the universities in Nigeria that primarily focus on academic programmes. I believe we should embrace this practice and save ourselves the idle time engaged discussing problems instead of solutions. A few schools could be identified to pilot the programme. Are we set; let’s go and cut street-life off our graduates.
Francis Iyoha
