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| Sunday, 4 September 2005 |
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Call to recognise AATSL by Elmo Leonard AATSL PresidentAsoka Jayasinghe said the government should recognise the Association of Accounting Technicians of Sri Lanka (AATSL) as a professional body so that those holding the AAT qualifications could be employed in the public sector. He was addressing the 'Annual Conference of Accounting Technicians' last week. Jayasinghe said the policy statements of successive governments had shown the importance of accountability as a means of enforcing financial discipline. Provincial Councils and other government departments, mainly in the rural sector cannot afford professional accountants. At the same time these areas were becoming even more important economically. This is while successive governments are actively planning to build rural economies, mainly through small agri-based and other industries which would require accounting staff. Provincial councils and government departments could solve this problem by employing accounting technicians who do not cost as much as professional accountants. The AAT is the only Sri Lankan professional examination which has an optional paper in public sector accounting, Jayasinghe said. AATSL had also proposed to government that the AAT qualification be combined with the general clerical service examination for higher grades. These proposals had been shelved due to trade union pressure, where trade unions have interests in themselves, but not the interest of the country at large, Jayasinghe said. The AATSL president appealed to a government minister present to convince the government to recognise the AAT membership which he said was a well structured, non-profit making professional body. AATSL now holds examinations in seven provincial centres including Jaffna and Batticaloa where the number of students increases every year. Next year, a centre will be opened in Anuradhapura. Due to the AAT examinations becoming affordable to more students, there are over 25,000 active students and the majority of them use the AAT examinations as a launching pad to sit higher professional examinations. In recognition of the need to supplement and broaden the knowledge of students and members of AAT who are seeking or are already in employment, AAT had planned to begin four separate certificate courses in banking, taxation and company secretarial practice. Also, a certificate course in English, in addition to other courses of study, are currently being conducted very successfully, Jayasinghe said. The speaker reiterated that AAT was set up 17 years ago by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL) on the recommendations of the ADB. AAT accountants are middle level accountants who support professional accountants and are capable of working in large or small organisations in industry or in commerce, the private and government sectors. In small organisations, accounting technicians are often the only trained finance staff, whereas in the larger organisations they are an essential part of the finance team which would include chartered accountants and other related staff, Jayasinghe said. The challenge facing any professional body is to ensure that its qualifications remain relevant and up-to-date. Thus, the AAT syllabus is revised this year, taking into account the rapid changes taking place around the world and at home, Jayasinghe said. |
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