Quali deferred to 2021, no overloading required

The qualifying examinations for Third Year Accountancy students will be pushed back to 2021 as announced by the School of Business and Accountancy (SBA) administration in a Zoom meeting with student leaders earlier this evening. 

The first take is set to be scheduled on May 31, June 2, and June 4, 2021, with the retake following a week after. 

This adjustment came after a series of negotiations between the SBA College Student Council (CSC-SBA), the Junior Philippine Institute of Accountants Holy Angel University Chapter (JPIA-HAU), The Enterprise, and class representatives. 

Issues regarding internet connectivity, physical strain, and unfit environments for examination were raised in a submitted petition to cancel the qualifying examinations, while the admin was concerned with the upholding of academic integrity during the exam. 

Pushing through with qualifying exams this December would have required students to have two devices with cameras and microphones, as well as a stable internet connection and power source. Deferring the examinations to 2021 satisfies both student and admin concerns, where face-to-face testing will be more feasible.

“We can no longer wait for the site visit. This is the reality of our situation. We can no longer keep you hanging so we are making this decision right now,” said Dr. Ma. Lina T. Ramoneda, the Dean of SBA.

Since the qualifying exams will now be for the incoming fourth year students, the coverage will be the courses from first year to third year. However, the criteria for the status of eligibility will remain the same, considering the students’ performance until the second year only. 

Meanwhile, students who wish to proceed with the Accountancy program will be on probation. Their status will be updated according to the results of the qualifying exam. An agreement to this effect shall be signed by the students upon enrolment for next semester.

The admin has reached an arrangement with the registrar that there will be no overloading of courses, especially those which are not aligned to the different programs by taking into credit the subjects that they have already taken. Prerequisites for each course will also be taken care of by the management.

Instead, Auditing and Assurance: Concepts and Applications 1, a requirement of the Bachelor of Science in Accountancy (BSA) program, will be credited in lieu of the Sustainability and Strategic Audit course required by the BS Management Accounting (BSMA) and BS Internal Auditing (BSIA) programs.

Similarly, students will be taking up the course for Management Accounting and Control as required by BSA, which will be credited for the Internal Audit Engagements course for BSIA. Those who wish to study the latter using a course learning packet will be given the option to do so.

Those who wish to waive their chance to take the exam may opt to enroll under the other specializations, along with the 57 students who are no longer qualified to undergo the examination. However, they may no longer change their minds on this matter next semester.

“There’s always life after BSA. Those who want to proceed with BSMA and BSIA, go ahead,” Ramoneda encouraged.

The administration also clarified that the final examinations for this semester will not be held on campus.

LAYOUT BY: John Romvi Y. Manaloto

PHOTO SOURCE(S): Ian Paul Saligumba, freepngimg