CA Sri Lanka continues to cultivate soft skills of aspiring Chartered Accountants through virtual programmes

In its continuing endeavour aimed at cultivating futuristic accounting professionals, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) continued to impart soft skills and other mandatory skills on its aspiring Chartered Accountants even amidst the lockdown.

For the fifth consecutive time, CA Sri Lanka virtually hosted the Skills Development Programme in September, attracting a large number of Passed Finalists who will soon transition to be Chartered Accountants.

Due to health guidelines, and an all-island lockdown in place during the month of September, CA Sri Lanka was compelled to conduct the event virtually. However, the Institute ensured that the take-home from the virtual event was the same as its soft skills residential workshops conducted in the past, prior to the pandemic.

The sessions were highly interactive with group discussions, group activities, and insightful presentations. Skills development is an integral part of the CA Curriculum, which aims to strengthen the soft skills of CA students before they progress to become fully qualified accounting professionals.

CA Sri Lanka President Mr. Manil Jayesinghe, Vice President Mr. Sanjaya Bandara, and Council Member & Chairperson of the Student Training & Skills Development Committee Ms. Chamila Cooray virtually graced the event, while CA Sri Lanka CEO Ms. Dulani Fernando provided guidance to ensure the success of the virtual event.

The resource personnel who steered the skill development programme comprised of

Mr. Mahendra Jayasekara, Managing Director of Lanka Walltiles PLC and Lanka Tiles PLC , Mr. Rizwan Anise, Director/Chief Officer Strategy, Marcom and New Business Ventures- LIMRA Holdings, Dr. Gayan Jayakody, Senior Lecturer- Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayawardenepura, Mr. Denzil Perera, Chartered

Marketer and Business Strategist, Ms. Upulka Samarakoon, Vice President- Human Resource at HSBC Electronic Data Processing Lanka Pvt Ltd, Ms. Vishwara Perera, Lecturer at Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce University of Sri Jayewardenepura and Ms. Bernadine Jayasinghe, award winning speaker and a corporate trainer.

During the programme, passed finalists were educated on how to develop an attractive CV, the importance of personal brand building, the need to formulate strategy as well as why personal grooming is mandatory among professionals. Among the other areas covered during the virtual event were Digital Disruption & Innovative Thinking, Marketing Strategy Development, Leadership Skill Development, HR Perspectives as well as Career Pathways for the future professionals.

Subsequently, students were asked to formulate a corporate strategy for CA Sri Lanka on how to overcome the challenges the Institute faced due to COVID 19 by applying the knowledge they gained during the programme.