CA Exams 2021: What Exactly are the Concerns of the CA Students?

With the release of admit cards for the upcoming CA exams, the ICAI has sent out a clear message that it is firm on its decision to conduct the CA exams as per the schedule announced without any further postponement. But, there are many concerns of the students which are left unattended.

Let us address these concerns one by one:

Opt-Out Facility

The CA Institute, while releasing the admit cards for July 2021 exams, has made an announcement about the opt-out facility available to students. But there are certain conditions attached to it. The student can avail the opt-out facility only if he/she provides a valid report stating that either he or she or any of his /her family members residing in the same premises are infected with Covid-19. In addition to this, students are required to provide his/her Aadhaar card along with the Aadhaar Card of the infected relative and self-declaration form. Upon submission of the requisite details for opting out, the ICAI shall verify the validity of the details submitted before allowing the student to opt-out.

To summarize, the students can avail opt-out facility only if they or any of their family members with whom they reside have been tested Covid positive. But what about the students who cannot attend the exam due to any other health issue or on other personal reasons like non availability of transport facility etc. Students also feel the above process is cumbersome. It could have been better if the process to opt-out was simplified.

No Additional Attempt

CA students who have availed the opt-out facility can only write the exam in the month of November. There is no additional attempt provided to students before the November cycle. This would cause the students to lose one precious attempt to write an exam. To be more precise, a 6 month set back to achieve their dream. The Opt-Out facility would have been more beneficial had the Institute provided another exam cycle before November.

Distant Exam Centers

Though the Institute has made arrangements to provide additional exam centers, there are many students whose exam centers are outside the zones they had opted while registering for exams. Due to this many students have to travel greater distances to give their exams. It would be difficult for the students to arrange for transport given the pandemic situation. Not just that, they would now be more prone to being exposed to Covid-19, thereby defeating the main purpose of arranging the additional exam centers.

Vaccination

Most of the students giving their exams are in the 18-44 age groups and are either partially vaccinated or not vaccinated at all. Conducting the exams as per the schedule in July, allow the students who are taking exams with little to no time to get vaccinated. This would only increase the risk of getting infected.

Extension for Old Syllabus

Extension for old syllabus is provided only till Nov 2021 attempt. And, this extension is available to only those who avail Opt-Out in July 2021 attempt. It would have been better if they had been more considerate and extended the extension to a few more attempts to all students.

Students are unable to focus on exams and are stressed about the pandemic situation. Giving the exams in this situation would also mean putting their health at risk. The students opine that ICAI should attend to all the concerns of the students, instil confidence to take exams and provide a clear cut picture about precautions and necessary measures taken to conduct the exams in a safest manner.

Also Read: CA Exams 2021 - Unreasonable Demands by the Students or A Blind Eye by the Institute?

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