The first cohort of Turkmen university professors of economics and finance subjects have recently completed the first in a series of accounting courses, supported by USAID’s Economic Reforms to Enhance Competitiveness Project, and have successfully passed their first exams as part of a certification program. Exam results for the “Financial Accounting-1” course reveal that 11 out of 20 test takers scored more than the passing threshold of 75 points, which is considered a very good passing rate.
By attending the course and taking the exam, which were conducted as part of the USAID-supported Certified International Professional Accountant (CIPA) Certification Program, Turkmen professors aim to learn International Financial Reporting Standards. The courses are held at the IFRS Center, which was established jointly by the Supreme Council of Science and Technology under the President of Turkmenistan and USAID on February 13, 2009 and aims to assist Turkmen professors in improving their professional qualification and enabling them to upgrade national universities’ accounting curricula to meet international accounting education standards.
The professors are yet to undergo two more courses and pass exams on Managerial Accounting-1 and Tax and Law. Having successfully done this, they would be eligible for the CAP (Certified Accountant Practitioner) certification as part of the CIPA Program. This Program is based on the global model accounting curriculum developed by UNCTAD/ISAR. The examinations are conducted by the CIPA Examination Network (CIPA-EN).
According to the local trainer who conducted the course, “Turkmen university professors’ high level of motivation enabled them to successfully pass their first exam.” Both the trainer and professors are optimistic about the success of further courses.
In parallel with studying the CIPA program, professors of higher educational institutions started to apply their newly gained knowledge and skills during their teaching process. “I already began translating the IFRS materials from Russian into Turkmen to use it during my lectures,” one of the course participants said. “By doing that, I try to explain the difference between national and international financial reporting standards to my students.”
EREC is planning to organize the same series of courses for one more group of university professors starting from September 2009.
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