'Mounting employment opportunities for Accountancy students, thanks to AATSL'

Hiran H. SENEWIRATNE

EDUCATION: The Association of Accounting Technicians of Sri Lanka (AATSL) is equipped to face up to global challenges in education and training and is providing opportunities for advancement for students who have left school with even GCE (O/L) qualifications.

AATSL serves as a gateway to enter an ever-widening world of opportunity, Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha said.

In the emerging global economy the local workforce need to be develop by educating for the new era of co-operation to face future challenges, Minister Susil Premajayantha said.

"In our country to meet the increasing demand for education services of high quality and relevance to our social environment, the Government welcomes initiatives of professionals,' Minister Premajayantha said at the AATSL, annual conference.

The theme of the event was " Accounting Technicians Contribution Towards Development of SME Sector".

He said that today in all professional areas there exists complexity and the counterpart of complexity is uncertainty. True professionalism is a situation where the professional is competent to operate in such contexts and the true professional has to have certain attributes.

These attributes are to cope with inherent uncertainties of the subject area, the expertise and the courage to take critical decisions on the basis of available evidence and the state-of-the-art or technical skills to implement the decisions taken or to retrieve the situation if initial solutions prove inappropriate, inadequate or unworkable, he said.

Minister said that professional bodies like the AATSL, stance a strong commitment to Free Education within the existing legal framework.

Towards this end, the initiatives of professionals like those of the Governing Council, the Academic Committee and the Professional Committee incorporate Quality Assurance Mechanisms (QAM) in their professional education and training programs should work to gather.

He said that it is in this regard the vision of the pioneers of this educational project and their strategy some eighteen years ago to established the AATSL as an alternative path-finding to our school leavers annually to pursue a career of their choice.

He also said that he is convinced that the Accounting Technicians can contribute towards accountability of the institutions in the Government sector and by employing them in Government organisations, Government can ensure proper control on accounting activities because they have obtained adequate knowledge and skills in accounting, auditing and taxation during their training.

"The Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka Ajith Nivard Cabraal the Accountancy profession has been enriched over the past centuries world over and the profession commands high respect in the society.

To measure up to the expectations of the society, the professional has to uphold the highest ideals of the profession and bound by its code of ethics.

In this respect the Association of Accounting Technicians can be proud of being an important player of the profession in Sri Lanka.

The envisaged efforts to build on Regional and International co-operation would undoubtedly strengthen the foundation of the profession of accounting existing in Sri Lanka.

The boundaries of traditional accounting are rapidly expanding and in this regard 'continuing education' is a sine qua non" for all Membership of the AATSL, to keep abreast with the rapid progress and expanding horizons in accounting practice," he said.

Accounting Technicians have a distinct role to play and to support the professional accountancy.

They have a vital role to play too, in the Medium and Small Enterprise (SME) sector where financial banking in the Provincial and Regional administration sectors, is of great importance for the benefit to the economy of our Country, Cabraal said.