The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators in Zimbabwe (ICSAZ) has launched a public sector accounting qualification that is designed to strengthen the capacity of public sector accounting professionals in Zimbabwe.
The new certification comes as the country’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Development has released its national Implementation Strategy Plan for the adoption of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).
The IPSAS are a set of accounting standards issued by the IPSAS Board for use by public sector entities around the world in the preparation of financial statements.
According to ICSAZ, the qualification – a two year course – is open to senior executives in the public sector with appropriate working experience in institutions that include state-owned enterprises, parastatals, schools, universities and hospitals.
The programme consists of seven models, namely Applied Governance, Risk and Compliance, Advanced Accounting and Financial Reporting, Corporate Secretarial Practice, Development of Strategy, Audit and Assurance, Public Finance Management and Corporate Law.
According to ICSAZ president Letitia Gaga the institute’s curriculum had admittedly been biased towards the private sector, hence the move to review the curriculum to include the public sector’s financial management.
“The institute trains professional accountants and chartered secretaries who currently occupy key positions in the public sector.
“As the institute of choice, we are committed to seeing the development of our nation through training and seeing the nation achieve the vision to become an upper middle class economy by 2030.”
Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube has said Government will fully support this initiative.
“It is my expectation and that of government that the graduates from this institution will work harder on the achievements that have been made to date.
“It is also my hope that the introduction of this qualification will enhance our work as government and drastically reduce some of the inefficiencies in government systems,” said Minister Mthuli.
“We are committed to ensuring that all higher education institutions in this country get their fair share of development projects to enable them all to meet their obligations more effectively.
“Financial literacy today holds a great deal of importance in society, particularly following the global financial crisis that shook our world.
“Due to this situation, the need for financial and economic education has increased, notably for civil servants in finance departments across various governments.
“Government fully supports your vision as evidenced by the support you are already receiving from various government structures and departments,” he added.
It is expected that the new qualification will help public sector accounting professionals to gain access to vast knowledge of the accounting profession through interacting with professionally qualified tutors as well as networking with other experts in the accounting field.
The qualification also provides exposure to new and fresh ideas through unlimited access to continuous professional development (CPD) workshops and seminars that are run regularly by ICSAZ.