Share this page:

1.A. Introduction
1.A.01

The Statement on Continuing Professional Education issued by the Institute requires that the Continuing Professional Education Committee (CPEC) shall issue directions and other instruments from time to time to enable program designers, developers and organisers as well as all other persons connected with Continuing Professional Education (CPE) activities at Programme Organizing Units (POUs) level as defined in the Statement on CPE, to discharge their responsibilities.

1.A.02

The guidance and direction contained in this advisory is the minimum requirement. The POUs are welcome to develop the CPE Programme provided such programmes are developed / organised, which meets these minimum requirements in the interest of the Chartered Accountancy profession.

1.B. Basic components of CPE Programmes
1.B.01.

Every CPE Programme should have the following key components:

  • Learning Objectives

  • Target Participants

  • Identification of Appropriate Faculty (Atleast one faulty must be member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India)

  • Methodology to be adopted to achieve the objectives of the CPE Programme

  • Programme Structure

  • Expected Outcomes

  • Financial Details (Refer Form B.03-A.1 and Form B.03-A.2 of the Advisory on CPE Documentation)

  • Feedback from the participants - which must be particular to the type of programmes. General model of the feedback has been given in the Advisory on CPE Documentation. (Refer Form. B.03.C of the Advisory on CPE Documentation)

1.B.02.

Every CPE Programme should be conducted with clearly spelt learning objectives, which should be informed, to the target participants and the resource persons well in advance. The objectives of the CPE Programmes should take into consideration the level of familiarity, experience and exposure of the participants with the subject matter of the proposed CPE programme.

1.B.03.

Every CPE Programme should have the clearly spelt out outcomes to enable the resource persons to equip themselves accordingly.

1.B.04.

CPE Programmes normally include technical sessions, inaugural and valedictory sessions with refreshment breaks. The technical sessions should be separately scheduled and not to be mixed with inaugural and valedictory sessions.

1.B.05.

CPE programmes in the nature of Workshops and Residential Programmes may not have inaugural and valedictory sessions.

1.B.06.

Every POU must give more importance to technical sessions since they directly contribute to the continuing professional education of our members.

1.B.07

A ' Technical Session' may generally be defined as a slot of time, which has predefined subject of learning for which resource person(s) (expert(s) in that subject of learning) is/are tied up in advance. However discussion forums or workshops where a large part of the totality of the session is conducted by the participants in cases where inputs are received through programmed material or electronic media also qualify as technical sessions.

1.B.08

A technical session should be scheduled for a duration of minimum of 60 minutes and maximum of 180 minutes (depending upon the numbers of Resource persons in that particular technical session). Each resource persons should be allotted with a minimum duration of 45 minutes. Every technical session should have an interactive session of 10 to 30 minutes (approx. 1/6 of the total duration of a technical session)

1.B.09

Keynote addresses in technical subjects may qualify as learning activity but a keynote address on general issues is not considered for inclusion in learning activities.

1.B.10

Time devoted to preliminaries like introduction, presentation of mementos, vote of thanks etc. not to exceed 10 minutes per technical session

1.B.11

The CPE Programmes should adopt appropriate learning methodologies and technologies - for which a separate CPE advisory will be issued - to achieve the objectives of CPE Programmes and to aid meeting the expected outcomes of such CPE Programme.

1.B.12

Every CPE Programme should have a programme structure containing the following important informations:

  • Timing of Registration

  • Timing of Inaugural Session, if considered necessary

  • Timings of Technical Sessions

  • Details of the moderator or the Chairman of the Technical Session and the resource persons should be given (Maximum of 3 speakers per technical session).

  • Appropriate weightage in terms of timings have to be given for topics on which the programme aims to develop competence among of the member of the Institute.

  • Timing of Valedictory Session, if considered necessary

1.B.13

The CPE Programme should as far as possible clearly indicate the target participants in terms of their carrier profile, experience and exposure requirements if any. Target participants means those members of the Institute who might be interested to attend a programme on a particular topic.

1.C Basic Structure of the CPE Programme
1.C.01.

Basic structure of the CPE programmes should be decided well in advance. The suggested types of basic structure are as under:

  • Lecture Series / Meetings

  • Refresher Seminars

  • Conferences

  • Workshops / Residential Programmes

  • Conventions

  • Panel Discussions

Indicative topics for these types of CPE Programmes have been given in the CPE Calendar.

1.C.02

Lecture Series / meetings are preferable - with actual duration of not less than two hours - for a topic for which members need updation. Desirably these lecture series / meetings have to be addressed by one or two resource persons who have command over the topic.

1.C.03

Refresher seminars are preferable - with around 6 hours duration (full day) - for topics for which members need updation. In these seminars more than two resource persons might be invited to enable the members to get technical inputs from more number of resource persons having command over the topics being discussed in such refresher seminars.

1.C.04

Conferences are preferable - with more than 6 hours duration (full day or more) - for topics / issues on which members have to develop new competencies (other than their core competencies). These types of CPE Programmes should be highly interactive and participative. Real life cases have to be taken up and discussed thoroughly to enable the members to develop enough insights about the issues involved and find out appropriate solutions under the guidance and supervision of the resource persons.

1.C.05.

Workshops / Residential Programmes are preferable - usually with more than 6 hours duration (full day or more) - for topics / issues on which members have to develop their core competencies in line with the current developments. These types of CPE Programmes should be highly interactive and participative. Case Study approach is best suited for these types of the CPE Programmes and the topics have to be taken up and discussed in detail to enable the members to develop enough insights about the issues involved and find out appropriate solutions under the guidance and supervision of the resource persons.

1.C.06

Conventions- preferably full day - have to devote on issues of contemporary nature on which members have to develop their competencies further. In other words, these conventions should provide a birds eye view on contemporary issues on which the POUs should try to conduct more CPE Programmes of other structures to fully disseminate the required knowledge among the members of the Institute.

1.C.07.

Panel Discussions - with a 2-3 hours duration - are preferable for hearing views on a particular topic from experts from different walks of life or background on the same issue.

1.C.08

To the extent possible resource persons should be requested to provide the background materials in advance for their technical sessions, which should be circulated among the participants. All the POUs have to ensure that the Background Materials / Technical Materials (either prepared by resource persons or the publications of the Institute) are circulated among the participants for every CPE Programme.

1.C.09.

While developing the CPE Programmes appropriate references should be made to similar programmes conducted by the other POUs of the Institute and other Institutions of national and international repute.

1.D Conclusion
1.D.01

It should be the endeavour of the POUs to continuously improve the quality of CPE Programmes so that the members can recognise the changes in economy / business environment such as focus on value, dynamic business and oganisation structures, developments in information technology and telecommunications, new government policies, globalisation of business and competitive pressures. Further, the POUs should enable our members to recognise the path to success by adapting to the changes, knowledge management and acquiring skills to work with future environment influenced by technological and other changes through the conduct of quality CPE Programmes. Furthermore, the POUs should enable the members of the Institute to recognise the opportunities for them in the emerging areas such new audit and assurance needs, performance measurement services, change management services, strategy management, general practice specialization and servicing global organizations.

1.E Effective Date
  This advisory will become effective from 1st July 2003.

    Quick Links