These experiences of graduates are a clear indication of the “education-workplace” gap which is not unique to the accountancy profession but is becoming a global concern with numerous questions being raised by industry captains about the value of tertiary education.
The “education-workplace” expectation gap may be attributed, firstly, to the understanding of the workplace requirements by tertiary education leaders. Secondly, the disagreement on the responsibilities of education institutions and industry for the training and development of the learners; and thirdly, the extended process of changing academic programmes, which may not accommodate the rapidly changing requirements of the workplace.
Other causes include:
The short-term solution currently being implemented to address the gap in South Africa is to provide “work-readiness programmes”. However, these programmes focus on developing the pervasive and inter-personal skills to facilitate the transition into the working environment.
The long-term solution is to review the education and training as a continuum with a focus on an integrated approach that addresses the competence requirements of executing the critical work functions at the expected levels of proficiency.
This requires a paradigm shift in the education environment with a change from the traditional teaching and learning system to competency-based education system (integration of technical knowledge and practical skills).
The 21st century is abuzz with the concepts of “technology and connectivity” as the drivers of progress and development. The accountancy profession is no exception. Long gone are the days of “pencil pushers and paper users” because technology such as accounting and financial reporting packages have changed the skills sets required from human resources.
Technology has taken over the processing function (data conversion to financial information) as well as financial information analysis through artificial intelligence and “big data”.
Furthermore, the shift in emphasis of financial reporting towards principle based reporting about the economic phenomenon of business transactions rather than rules based coupled with the demands for Integrated Reporting have placed even greater a premium on the cognitive skills of the professional in the accountancy profession.
A consolidation of the aforementioned and, more importantly, for the relevance and survival of the professionals in the accountancy profession, it is an unequivocal requirement for changes to take place in the education and training.
To close the gap, educational leaders and captains of industry must work in a collaborative manner to develop and implement the following strategies:
Does this mean that the current education and training systems should be discarded – the answer is a definite “no”, but they should be reviewed and adapted to meet the changing demands of the business environment and workplace expectations? Everyone claims that accounting and the related subjects are practical in nature, yet it is taught in a technical and theoretical manner often ignoring developing the skills required to apply it in the world of work.
It is not a question of reducing the technical knowledge which is often blamed for information overload by academics, but focussing on the skills required to facilitate the process of engaging with the volumes of information.
For education and training to be a continuum it is necessary for educational institutions and industry to form a partnership of collective sharing of responsibilities through a co-operative manner pursuing an integrated mandate.
The development of employable and competent professionals is not only key to the accountancy profession, but it is critical in addressing the risks such as fraud and corruption, which are depriving business and the economy of the ethical responsibilities of ensuring sustainability and growth.