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| Sunday, 7 July 2002 |
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CIMA targets soft skills improvement by INDUNIL THENUWARA Sri Lanka's pass rate at the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) examinations has increased by 20 per cent, the newly elected President of CIMA Sri Lanka Sudarshan Senaratne said. Addressing a media conference held in Colombo last week after his appointment the previous week, he said that although Sri Lankan students have good analytical skills, they lag behind when it comes to soft skills such as communication, presentation, leadership and negotiation skills. "Our education system is geared towards providing analytical skills and this shows in the way students answer examination papers. In these areas, we are behind only the UK and Ireland. However, soft skills are also important for a successful career and CIMA will focus this year on conducting programmes to develop these skills," he said. Speaking further on student development, he said the Institute intends to enhance the quality of teaching by getting down foreign lecturers to 'train the trainers' and expand the 'training through partnership' programme to more companies. The latter programme is designed to give students practical training while studying for their examinations. At present, 14 companies have adopted the recognised status of this programme. Senaratne said: "Some of the member activities we have organised for the year are training courses or workshops to be conducted by internationally renowned management experts to expose members to best practices and current management techniques and concepts. We will encourage members to use this institution as a forum to share their experiences, achievements and best practices among themselves. "We will also forge relationships with other professional and academic institutions both here and abroad to share knowledge and best practices. Another initiative that we are planning is the Business Manager of the Year award to recognise members who have contributed to the growth and development of Sri Lanka's corporates." The CIMA has over 1,400 members in Sri Lanka and over 57,000 members worldwide. CIMA UK upgrades its syllabus once every five years to ensure that it keeps pace with the needs of the modern business society. Senaratne began his career as a management trainee at Hayleys before joining the National Development Bank. He later joined Lanka Orix Leasing Company as its marketing manager and instituted and incorporated Lanka Orix Factors Ltd., Sri Lanka's first factoring company. As its chief executive officer, he was responsible for the growth and progress of not only the company, but also the factoring industry. |
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