In 2020, and 2021, the ICMAI institute conducted the CMA examination through a classroom-based online examination. The centres provide the facility to the students. Further, to make the centres accessible to the students, the institute had opened new branches as exam centres. The syllabus change, the mode of teaching online and the exam assessment online propagates the culture of the global system. Around the world, universities provide education online and inculcate global issues into the syllabus. Does it mean that CMA is following the global system? If so, what makes the difference between Indian standards and global standards? This blog is helpful for CMA students to know the ongoing issues with the educational system in India.
The past two years of online education and assessments educate a long way to travel. CMA examination has been conducted two times per year. And it is an open secret that the students are supplied as per the prevailing demand of the corporate sector. CMA Foundation registration for 2022 is open for online registration now. Through the ICMAI portal, the students do the online registration for the CMA examination in January and June 2022. Three months before the CMA examination, the students need to apply for the CMA examination. For the CMA foundation January examination, the last date falls in November. If the student has not received the Hall ticket for December 2021 CMA examination, they have concerns with the exam centre. And they write their examination in January. The reason for the non-delivery of the hall ticket is the care over the exam centre reachability of the student.
Online examination is a high cost for the institute as they need to get computers and maintain the hygiene with the centres. Offline is low cost as they incur a cost from the paper supply and faculty cost for the correction. Apart from cost, the institute focus on the quality of education. The administration issues like the admit card non-delivery, lack of technical knowledge to the students, and the postponement of the examination raised the concern about the standards for the professional level examination. Hopefully, the institute has crossed the crucial milestone of online education, and at this stage, the focus should be on quality. Check the ICMAI notification to perceive answers to the questions like Can we register for CMA offline? And Is the CMA exam online? By reducing administration and education-related issues, the examination happens periodically along with the desired mode of online or offline examination.
2020 CMA examination:
2020 is the first year of online examination for CMA students. Students are confused about the question paper pattern and believe in the mock test practice. When issuing mock tests, there were technical issues. The students managed the exam, and the result was a lack of confidence towards the main examination. The June examination of intermediate level and final level merged to the December. This prolonged in the years 2020 and 2021. The participants of the 2020 CMA examination are given three options. And they are an opt-out option, centre based online CMA examination and home-based online CMA examination. In the case of home-based examination, the students need to have a laptop or Personal computer. The data capacity of the internet must be sufficient to enable the video recording of the online CMA examination. Towards the end of the year, there was a writ petition about the malpractices in the CMA examination. So, in 2021, the institute decided to have an online and centre-based examination.
2021 CMA examination:
Online mode of examination and lack of notification to the students for the 2021 examination are the charges over the ICMAI institute by the CMA students. The exam pattern changed three times in the year 2021. And it caused difficulty for the students to prepare. Long answers are equally important similar to objective questions in the CMA syllabus. With the help of social media like Twitter and Facebook, students have raised their concerns. The admits cards and question paper patterns created the administration problem in 2021. For the objective questions, the students doubted whether the working notes rendered a step mark or not. Students demand offline examination with a standard question paper pattern of 40 per cent objective and 60 per cent subjective. The Supreme Court and institute need to decide about the year 2022.
2022 CMA examination:
In 2022, the students get nearby exam centres to write, technical issues will be resolved and the question paper pattern of the main exam will be a standard one. And these points support the argument that 2022 is a successful year for the students.
Advantages of online examination:
• The syllabus and the question paper pattern is designed as per the online mode examination. This model saves time and cost for the ICMAI institute. The correction work is done through automation.
• If the faculty and students complete the three levels on time, it is easy to plan the study time, coaching time and article ship tenure. It improves time management for the CMA students.
• CMA professionals get more foreign opportunities as they are trained for an updated model of assessment.
• Online education engages foreign students to continue their studies in India. This mode promotes admission to the ICMAI institute. The revenue that the institute gets help for improving the technical issues in the examination.
• Technology is part of life. The technical knowledge of the student enhances by learning online.
Bottom Line:
Online education has vast advantages. The distance of the exam centre, the technical issue for the mock test, frequent change with the question paper pattern and syllabus change with recent business challenges create a mess with the students. The administration issues of the online examination will be overruled through planning. Online education is helpful for time management and internet-based learning for CMA students.