The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)will hold classes at 25 centres in 22 cities across the
country. Proyashi Barua reports...

The launch of live virtual classes by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) envisages a range of benefits for the student community. The classes will commence from February 1. "This initiative shall be reckoned as one of the historic steps undertaken by the board of studies of the institute," says Amarjit Chopra, president , ICAI. "Initially, these classes are being held in select subjects at 25 centres in 22 cities across the country. However, we have plans to upscale to about 50 centres and establish our presence in many more cities by July," informs Chopra.

Talking about the key objectives of the launch, Chopra says, "By teaching through live virtual classes we shall be ensuring that students across the country are exposed to the same quality of teaching. The challenge of quality control in terms of teaching has been a key concern for ICAI for quite sometime.

Also, we want to reach out to more students in remote areas. The mode of virtual classes is an affordable alternative to setting up physical classrooms and hence we decided to try out this mode."

According to Chopra, the virtual classes translate to a cost-benefit for students. "The fees that our students pay is only 40% of the fees charged by private institutes," he informs. The latest technology is being leveraged to link studios to classrooms using VSAT/ terrestrial links.

"The key highlight of the live virtual classes is that students shall be taught in an interactive classroom environment that in turn will foster a sense of belongingness to the institute and unity among students. We will teach through a blend of theory and case studies and emphasise on practical case study handling," shares Chopra. "The latter is especially significant as it has been observed that most chartered accountants lack the general management communication skills that are critical in the corporate world. Through our virtual classes we shall teach our students to draft reports, prepare case appeals, write valuation reports and understand and analyse annual reports of top companies, among other things," he adds.

The live virtual classes will teach the chartered accountancy course at all levels that include CPT, IPCC/ ATC and the finals.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/Live-virtual-classes-for-chartered-accountants/articleshow/7302544.cms