ACCA South Africa hosts an ACCA Examination Surgery
04 Feb 2006
Prioritise and prepare well in advance was the key message presented to the 60 plus ACCA students that attended the ACCA Examination Surgery. The presenter, Isaiah Mulila, Director of ACCA courses at ZICAB - Walk Tall Tuition Centre in Zambia, has more than ten years ACCA lecturing experience on the ACCA and other professional accountancy courses.
Students were riveted during the three hour presentation, by Isaiah's sense of humour coupled with his advice, techniques and strategies on how to master the ACCA examinations.
Isaiah started his presentation by talking about his own experiences as a student, which made the audience feel very comfortable in terms of their own circumstances. Coming from an engineering and economics background initially, and then pursuing accounting, Isaiah was in an excellent position to talk about balancing student life with work and family commitments.
In his presentation, Isaiah also highlighted the benefits of the ACCA qualification. He said that the ACCA qualification was a passport, allowing you to go anywhere in the world. For example, if his country had to go to war for any reason and he had to be a refugee, he would not stay in a refugee camp. He would be an economic refugee; helping that particular country with the skills he has, as they are invaluable. The statement "You can never be poor armed with an ACCA qualification!" got students sitting up and taking notice.
Most students could relate to part time student life, coupled with balancing a job, family responsibilities and financial challenges. "Managing all four areas of one's life is not easy but achievable," he said. His recipe for success in ACCA exams was:
- Prioritise: Set your goals according to order of importance and then work on the ones that are first on the list.
- Sacrifice: You are forced to sacrifice a number of things in your life whilst studying, including your family. Cut down on family gatherings like funerals and weddings. Make them understand that you would like to take part but cannot because of your studies. Make financial contributions and send your partner to represent you. You will be unpopular with them but they will enjoy the rewards after you complete your studies.
- Interact: Learn to interact with lecturers and other students so that you can benefit from their knowledge. The lecturer's practical application helps to clarify some of the theoretical concepts in the textbook.
- Prepare: Prepare for your exams well in advance. Do not wait for the last month to study. Have a timetable at least five months before the exams and stick to it. Do the following exercise - allocate in a day how much time you devote to sleeping, working, eating and leisure time. You might be surprised in terms of what little time is left to actually study. Go back and then first allocate studying time and then put everything else in terms of remaining time.
- Practice: Practice working out given questions rather than always looking at solutions first. Work out the question and only look at the solution afterwards. Do this regularly not just towards the exams. Do not be one of those students who, as part of his studying regime, reads a question and then reads over the solution and then sits back and says "Ah, I would have answered it in the same way." Practice answering the question and then mark it against the solution. Practice! Practice! Practice!
- Revise. Revision should be done at least a month before the exams and not in the last week.
Isaiah also highlighted some of the reasons why students fail examinations:
- Late start in studying
- Lack of sufficient preparation
- Lack of current study materials
- Lack of question practice
- Subject overload: sitting for too many papers in one exam session.
He concluded his presentation by giving tips on how to approach questions in an examination environment, giving examples in the financial reporting, tax and auditing papers.
Anneline Carstens, Director of Altimax Training Academy, also gave students a short presentation on "The Winning Strategy". She said that to win you have to do the following:
- Set goals
- Have a strategy
- Draw a plan
- Focus or prioritise
- Control your own destiny
As part of the winning strategy, Anneline mentioned that students must also possess the qualities of the seven helpers, being:
- Informer: you must gather knowledge
- Leader: you must lead the pack and set mission and goals. Walk in front; do not wait for others to start.
- Strategist: know how to plan your life effectively and efficiently.
- Organiser: an organiser fits in all subjects and pay equal attention to each paper without spotting
- Worker: work hard and consistently
- Controller: monitors performance all the time
- Spiritual Guide: have a spiritual guide, which will help you succeed. Refresh and revive yourself constantly.
She concluded by urging students to accept total responsibility for their lives, to avoid being victims of emotions, to manage their baggage and always persevere.
To reinforce the message given to students, Siphiwe Shabangu, recently qualified ACCA member, gave testimony to Isaiah's work as a lecturer. Isaiah was very instrumental in helping him pass his examinations in 2003. Siphiwe is now the Deputy Director: Integrity Risk Assurance Services at the City of Johannesburg. He encouraged the students to follow the advice given by the lecturers to ensure success in examinations. The students' then spent some time networking over lunch.