Cape Town - In an effort to fast track transformation in the
accountancy profession, South African Institute of Chartered Accountants
(Saica) on Tuesday made 300 bursaries available qualifying African and Coloured
Grade 12 learners who wish to pursue a career as a chartered accountant but do
not have the financial resources to do so.
Currently, there are about 34 400 Chartered Accountants
(CAs) in South Africa. Out of this number, only: 1 100 are African females, 1
339 African males, 468 Coloured females, 478 Coloured males, 1 347 Indian
females, 1 936 Indian males, 7 768 White females and 19 852 White males.
The country remains with a shortage of over 5 000 CAs
professionals, with the public sector faced with a vacancy rate of over 40% in
the financial fields.
According to a study by Saica there were already more than
22 000 vacancies in the fields of financial services and accounting as far back
as 2008. Skills shortages at postgraduate and masters levels amounted to almost
6 000 for immediately required accountants.
Both the public and private sectors face an uphill battle in
retaining qualified accounting staff.
The selection criteria for candidates:
- The
learner must be a South African citizen
- The
learner must be African or Coloured
- The
learner must obtain at least 60% in Mathematics
- The
learner must be in Grade 12, intending on studying B Comm. Accounting
Learners with the necessary competencies are encouraged to
apply for a bursary.
To find out more click here.
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