Accounting technicians urged to further their studies

Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) graduates have been urged to study further otherwise the job market will not absorb them. Speaking during the Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) AAT graduation ceremony, BICA chief Executive Verily Molatedi said graduates should grab every opportunity and act on it if they have to be successful in life.

“This is just the beginning of your professional lives but given the acute unemployment out there, I wish to encourage you to study further and do it while you are still young,” said Molatedi. She said the need for finance and accounting professionals is a going concern and if graduates have to study further to add value to the economy, it will surely go a long way in addressing such a need.

She encouraged all graduates to enrol for the BICA qualification as well as to register with BICA as members as provided for in the Accountants Act of 2010. “ Registration with BICA will ensure that you get support from the Institute which will ensure that learning and development remains relevant to you at all stages of your career and hence the public will also develop confidence in your skills,” she said.

AAT Director of Marketing and Commercial, Andrew Williamson said Botswana AAT graduates are the largest group of all AAT programs in the world. There were about 350 graduates during the ceremony. He said AAT qualification is the difficult course, which demonstrates to employers that a graduate has proven that he can run through tough assignments and succeed.

“AAT qualification is difficult, it is the top of the trade and it demonstrates to employers that a graduate can break the odds,” said Williamson. BICA President, Rudy Binedell urged the graduates to work harder and look for available opportunities to work for themselves as finding job is not easy. “ Do not just rest on your laurels because you have attained the qualification but continue working hard and infinite possibilities surely abound. Given current unemployment figures, you might opt to work for yourself by providing accountancy services for other businesses,” said Binedell Binedell said as government deliberately steers from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based one in an effort to diversify the economy, accounting profession should be at the forefront of economic activity to ensure sound financial management and corporate governance practice.

“That way we will undoubtedly help attract investors and subsequently the Foreign Direct Investment which is needed for any economy to thrive,” said Binedell. However, a recent report by the World Bank stated that in order for graduates to be job-ready, secondary education needs to inculcate 21st century skills and vocational skills demanded by employers. Currently there are 87 000 graduates unemployed in Botswana.