IFAC Education Committee Meeting
March 2005 – New York, United States
Agenda Item 21.1
IFAC EDUCATION COMMITTEE MEETING
NEW YORK ■ MARCH 2005
COUNTRY REPORT – MALAYSIA
1.
Forum and Focus Group Discussion on IES
1.1
The MIA and MICPA jointly organised a Forum on International Education
Standards for Professional Accountants in September 2004 to provide an insight on
the objective and requirements of IES, to assess the current curriculum of
accountancy qualifications in Malaysia and to discuss the issues associated with the
implementation of IES in Malaysia. The Forum also deliberated on the impact and
challenges of globalization on accounting education and the capability of accountants
in meeting market demands. Mr Warren Allen, former chairman of the Education
Committee, was one of the speakers at the Forum
1.2
As a follow-up on the Forum, the MIA and MICPA hosted a Roundtable Discussion
on IES, which was held on February 3, 2005. The purpose was to provide an
opportunity for the stakeholders of accounting education to examine in greater depth,
and for the exchange of views, on the requirements of IES, the current curriculum of
accountancy qualifications in Malaysia, and the potential issues that may arise from
the implementation of IES. The Roundtable Discussion was participated by senior
faculty members from both public and private universities, education sponsoring
bodies, employers as well as principal officers of MIA and MICPA.
1.3
The Roundtable Discussion focused on the following areas:

Overview of International Education Standards (IES)

An Assessment of the Accountancy Degree Curriculum −Does It Meet the IES
Requirements?

Education Excellence : Quality Issues and Global Benchmarks
1.4
Dato’ Abdul Halim Mohyiddin presented an overview of the objectives and
requirements of IES 1 to IES 7. This was followed by an assessment of the current
education and training curriculum for professional accountants in Malaysia against the
IES requirements by Asso Prof Dr Susela Devi from University of Malaya. Prof Dato’
Dr Sharifah Hapsah from the Ministry of Education highlighted the initiatives
undertaken by the Malaysian government to enhance the quality of higher education
in the country.
2.
Application of IES in Malaysia
2.1
Qualification Framework for Professional Accountants
Generally, the qualification framework for professional accountants in Malaysia have
met the essential elements of education, including practical experience, prescribed in
IES, as depicted by the following diagrams:
Prepared by: Claire Egan (February 2005)
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IFAC Education Committee Meeting
March 2005 – New York, United States
Agenda Item 21.1
FIGURE 1 : Qualification Framework for Professional Accountants
PROFESSIONAL
EDUCATION
PROGRAMME
CONTINUING
PROFESSIONAL
EDUCATION
PRACTICAL
EXPERIENCE
FIGURE 2 : Mapping of IES to Qualification Framework
for Professional Accountants
IES 2
IES 3
IES 4
IES 6
IES 1
IES 7
IES 5
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IFAC Education Committee Meeting
March 2005 – New York, United States
2.2
Agenda Item 21.1
Entry Requirements
2.2.1 IES 1 prescribes that the entry requirements to a program of professional accounting
education leading to membership of an IFAC member body should be at least
equivalent to that for admission to a recognised university degree programme or its
equivalent.
2.2.2 The minimum education requirements for admission to membership of MIA and
MICPA have met the requirements of IES 1, as shown below:
2.3

MIA

MICPA – An accredited 3 or 4 year degree program with concentration in
accountancy or other disciplines or a tertiary level diploma in
accountancy and pass the CPA certification program
– An accredited 4-year degree program in accountancy
Professional Education Programme
2.3.1 IES 2 prescribes that:
 A programme of professional accounting study should be long enough and
intensive enough to permit students to gain the professional knowledge required
for professional competence.

Students should pursue a degree in accounting, or a professional qualification to
gain their knowledge.

The content of professional accounting education should consist of:
− accounting, finance and related knowledge
− organisational and business knowledge
− information technology knowledge and competence
2.3.2 IES 3 prescribes the professional skills that professional accountants should acquire,
including:





intellectual skills
technical and functional skills
personal skills
interpersonal and communication skills
organizational and business management skills
2.3.3 IES 4 prescribes that a program of professional accounting education should provide
potential professional accountants with a framework of professional values, ethics and
attitudes for exercising professional judgement and for acting in an ethical manner
that is in the best interest of society and the profession.
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IFAC Education Committee Meeting
March 2005 – New York, United States
Agenda Item 21.1
2.3.4 The accounting degree programmes accredited by MIA for admission to membership
consist of 4 years of full-time study and the curriculum covers broadly all the subject
areas prescribed in IES 2. However, there is insufficient emphasis on the learning of
professional values, ethics and attitudes, and development of professional skills.
2.3.5 The CPA program provided by the MICPA is designed to enhance the technical
knowledge and professional skills of potential members. CPA candidates at the
Advanced Stage are required to attend workshop sessions where they are expected to
participate in discussions, make presentation of group projects and problem solving,
before they are eligible to sit for the written examinations. The candidates are also
exposed to problems involving professional values, ethics and attitudes in their study
as well as to situations of possible ethical implications during their practical
experience.
2.3.6 The following key issues were highlighted at the Roundtable discussion:
2.4

Lack of clear definition of the learning outcomes for each subject or module in the
education programme so as to ensure that potential professional accountants have
acquired the necessary professional capabilities and competence through the
process of education.

In the degree programs, there is tendency towards a surface approach to learning
knowledge across a broad range of subjects with insufficient emphasis on
understanding, application and evaluation.

There is a need for the accounting faculties to be trained in teaching methods that
will encourage and develop problem solving, analytical and communication skills
among students.

There is a need for more effective methods of teaching the fundamental principles
of professional condust, professional values, ethics and attitudes.

There is a need for the accounting faculties to establish alliances with accounting
firms, industry and the business community so as to bring in business
professionals into the education process. Such alliances will bring education to the
real world and equip the students with the necessary capabilities and competence
that are required by the changing marketplace
Practical Experience
IES 5 prescribes that practical experience should be apart of the pre-qualification
program and that the period should be at least 3 years.
Both MIA and MICPA require their potential members to obtain a minimum of three
years of relevant practical experience before admission to membership. In addition,
the MICPA requires all students to gain their practical experience under the
supervision of an experienced member, and students who plan to work in public
practice firms are required to serve a 3-year training contract with a member in
practice.
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IFAC Education Committee Meeting
March 2005 – New York, United States
2.5
Agenda Item 21.1
Competence Assessment
IES 6 prescribes that the professional capabilities and competence of potential
professional accountants should be formally assessed before qualification. It also
prescribes that the final assessment should cover the whole range of professional
knowledge, professional skills and professional values, ethics and attitudes, and that
the assessment is made as near as practicable to the end of the pre-qualification
program.
The following key issues were highlight at the Roundtable Discussion:
2.6

There is a need for closer interaction between the stakeholders of professional
accounting education, viz. the government, professional accounting bodies,
accounting educators and employers in the education process to identify the
competence and capabilities required of potential professional accountants, that
are relevant to the needs of business and the community.

There is also a need to translate these competence and capabilities into learning
outcomes for each discipline in the professional education programme.

Going forward, there is a need to develop and implement competence based
approach to assessment. The challenge is to identify the performance outcomes
and capabilities professional accountants need to achieve competence.

There is a need to restructure the education and training curriculum in order to
comply with the requirement that the final assessment is made towards the end of
the pre-qualification program.
Continuing Professional Education
IES 7 prescribes that member bodies should implement mandatory CPD requirement
to ensure that all professional accountants develop and maintain competence relevant
to their work and professional responsibilities. It also prescribes that member bodies
operating an input-based approach should require the professional accountants to
compete at least 120 hours or equivalent learning units of relevant CPD activity in
each rolling 3-year period.
Currently, it is mandatory for members of MIA to attain a prescribed quantum of CPD
each year. The MICPA intends to implement IES 7 with effect from 2006. Both
bodies do not foresee any major problem in meeting the requirements of IES 7.
3.
Initiatives of Government
3.1
The Malaysian Higher Education Council has recently introduced a Malaysian
Qualifications Framework to safeguard and enhance the quality of higher education.
The Framework is intended to ensure that all qualification awarded by approved and
certified institutions operate within the boundary of transparent criteria, standards,
policies and procedures. These include academic, professional and vocational
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IFAC Education Committee Meeting
March 2005 – New York, United States
Agenda Item 21.1
institutions in both public and private sectors, and covers formal, informal and nonformal education. Each qualification is required to be described by learning outcomes,
field, nature or purpose of the qualification and the credit or academic load. This will
enhance public confidence in the qualification and facilitate determination of the
equivalency and recognition of qualifications.
3.2
The Framework also provides guidance on domains of learning outcomes,
measurement of learning effort or volume of learning (in terms of credits) a student
must undertake to achieve a defined group of learning outcomes, methods of
assessment and the quality system. The Framework would help to address some of the
key issues highlighted above through the total education process.
IFAC/Edcom/Gen/Edcom.Rpt.March05
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