‘Do or Die Situation’: Students Set to Appear for CA Exams Question ICAI’s Decisions

New Delhi: The Chartered Accountancy Exams scheduled to be held between November 21 and December 14 this year have left dozens of students in a lurch about their future as they worry if they will be able to reach the exam centres amid safety concerns during the pandemic.

The exams, conducted by the ICAI (Institute of Chartered Accountants of India) take place twice every year, in May and November, respectively. However, this year, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the exams scheduled to be held in May were postponed multiple times and merged with the November exams.

The CA examinations are considered one of the toughest exams in the world, with an exceptionally low pass percentage of about 10%.

Dhruv Gehlot, a final year student at Jodhpur University, Rajasthan told Khabri Baba that his CA exam attempt was due in May but was merged with November 2020 exam due to COVID-19. He had decided that he wanted to become a chartered accountant in school itself but now the lack of consideration for students coming from containment zones or students who are COVID-19 positive, he is unsure if he will be able to make it to the exam hall.

“It is clearly mentioned in the SOPs that containment zone and COVID-19 positive students are not to be allowed into the exam hall, but how will they verify this for so many students? ICAI has not taken any step to conduct exams for such students but has simply chosen to not let them sit for the exams. It is a violation of students’ right to equality. In all other exams, whether JEE, NEET or CLAT, there were separate arrangements for such students,” Gehlot said.

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Travelling long distance amidst a health crisis is an added stress. “Many students have been allotted centres at a distance of more than two hours. It is very risky for students to use public transportation and many students cannot afford private transportation – that too for eight days,” he said. The multiple exams that the students have to appear for are spread over the course of 18 days.

Students propose solutions

“The ICAI could do so many things to make life for students in containment zones easier. They could make separate arrangements for them, conduct an online exam, give an extra attempt to those students who cannot appear for the exams in November or provide safe, sanitised transport facilities to those who cannot travel on their own,” Gehlot said.

Abhinav, a final year student of CA is another whose exam was due in May but was postponed to November. He had chosen to study CA because he believed that he had an eye for detail when it came to financial transactions and frauds.

However, he is afraid that he will not be able to sit for the exams if, “he tests positive for COVID-19, his residence falls into the containment zone, he demonstrates any symptoms of COVID-19 at the examination centre,” he said. He will then automatically be shifted to appear for the next attempt i.e. May 2021, further delaying his professional goals by another six months.

He said that because these exams are extremely important, students will appear for them regardless of their health conditions, which might result in the spread of the coronavirus.

Every year, more than four lakh students appear for CA exams. “Even if 5% of them get COVID-19 i.e. 24,000 students approximately and considering that their parents (two people) will also test positive because of them, a total of 72,000 people would get the disease and considering the current death rate of 1.6%, it would result in 1,152 casualties. I do not think an exam is worth the lives of 1,152 people,” he said.

“An alternative attempt should be offered to the affected students in December, January or February instead of shifting their careers to May 2021 directly,” he said. He also said that the ICAI administration has not been paying any heed to requests on the helpline.

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Students fear mental stress, depression

Gehlot also said that he had been preparing for these exams for the last one year – and if he is unable to sit for them, it will cause further anxiety and mental stress to him.

Azra is another student who fears that this uncertainty might lead to added stress. “Students missing this exam will lose six precious months of their career. For most of us, this will have huge financial implications as well. Also, for old course students May 2021 is the last attempt. So, missing the November cycle will leave us with only one last shot at the degree,” she said.

Exposing family members to infection

Hailing from Navi Mumbai, Azra lives with her parents who are over the age of 55 and a grandfather who is over 85 years old.

She is afraid that travelling for the exam might put her and eventually her family at risk of contracting the coronavirus. “I am a CA final old course student with only four papers pending. So, this is basically a do-or-die situation for me, literally,” she said.

The exam centre that she has been allotted is about 30 kilometres away from her house. She is afraid that she will not be able to afford the daily commute, given the fact that she belongs to a lower income family. “I’ll have to change two buses and a cab and spend two hours travelling (one way) because 30 kms in Mumbai isn’t an easy distance to navigate. Also taking a direct cab will cost a minimum of Rs 1,000 a day as the centre is outside city limits and only intercity cabs ply. How is someone from a lower financial background supposed to meet these expenses?” she said, and suggested that the exams either be conducted online or postponed to January or February.

Safety concerns

Tanvi is a CA student from Mumbai who lives with retired parents. Describing the issue, she said, “The problem simply put is safety, or the lack of it.” She said that the centres would need proper sanitisation every single day, but the students are unsure of the ICAI will follow these guidelines strictly. “Students are scared that they have greater chances of contracting COVID-19 and it doesn’t seem like a fair trade-off for a degree, which we may or may not get.”

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The solution that ICAI has provided is to let students ‘opt’ out of these exams and carry forward all benefits to the May 2021 cycle. But students don’t agree. “This prolongs everything by 6 more months. ICAI basically has mentally exhausted its students by continuously postponing exams at the nth hour wasting students’ time a lot,” Tanvi said.

She suggests that the ICAI should take the students’ concerns seriously. “ICAI should realise that these are unprecedented times. They cannot simply brush this off as students being unprepared. Every attempt you’ll have students like that. They don’t come on Twitter and beg to be heard,” she said.

“Since during our exam there would be various points of contact (answer papers, question papers, attendance register, hall ticket, etc.) there is an increased chance of infection. Maybe take a couple of months and really make good preparations with way more centres if online exams are ‘impossible’?” she said.

A difficult path, long journey

Siddhi, who hails from Telangana, is a dedicated CA final year student. While pursuing an undergraduate degree from St Francis College for Women at the same time, Siddhi realised, “This [CA] course requires immense multi-tasking as a student has to balance their college, coaching, full time three-year internship and studies.”

She believes that even after going through such a difficult process to reach this stage, the difficulties have not ended because the exams are being conducted in the middle of a pandemic. “If someone misses the exam, it’ll be a waste of humongous effort for them,” she said.

Questioning the country’s healthcare system, she said,“ With COVID cases rising every day and many states foreseeing a second or third wave, I would like to know is the Indian healthcare in a position to accommodate more cases if these exams occur now?” She is also afraid that she might expose her grandmother, who is 82 years of age, to the virus.

She also accused the administration of bias. “The members of the ICAI recently got extensions for filing returns under GST. But when students appeal to them on the same ground, our demands go unheard,” she claimed.

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The exam pattern is also questionable, she added. “The inter and final exams are divided into two groups with four papers each. Unlike the degree exam, if I choose to not write the exam because of symptoms or because I come from a containment zone, say after three papers, I will have to repeat all the exams in the next attempt.”

She said that the CA exams cannot be compared with NEET or UPSC exams, which had prompted huge nationwide protests because they were a one-day affair.

What does ICAI say? 

In a press release, the ICAI said, “Announcement is being issued to assuage any concerns of the candidates and to assure them that the November 2020 CA Examinations will be held as scheduled in a safe atmosphere.” A writ petition was filed by some students before the Supreme Court, which was disposed of by the court on November 4.

“During the course of hearing, ICAI informed the Hon’ble Court that it had verified the position from the concerned examination centres and was informed by the said examination centres that they are not falling in any containment zones. The Hon’ble Court was also informed that clarification had been obtained from the concerned examination centres and none of them were declared as covid-care [COVID-19] facilities,” the release said.

“As regards request for isolation rooms, the Hon’ble Court was informed that this is neither possible nor desirable in larger interest of other candidates, staff etc. to allow persons showing covid [COVID-19] symptoms to enter the examination centres. Regarding extra time to be provided for writing examination, it was clarified that it being a professional examination, no extra time should be provided as the question papers are set as per the time required to answer the same,” it stated.

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It further said that online exams were not possible. “ICAI has informed the Court that online examinations are not possible as the subjects are descriptive in nature. The Hon’ble Supreme Court was also informed that ICAI has already opened more than 600 centres in 200 new cities with standby buffer centres in case of emergency to accommodate candidates in unforeseen situations,” it read.

Siddhi said, referring to the press release, “The SC verdict asked ICAI to issue a press release resolving student queries. The press release was inadequate and only dismissed our queries rather than providing a solution!”