Lets Talk Commerce

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 19:31:47 EST

Students of Pakistan, since its creation in 1947 had been designated a task by the Quaid-i-Azam who said, "The duties required of you now are: develop a sound sense of discipline, character, initiative and a solid academic background. You must devote yourself whole-heartedly to your studies, for that is your first obligation to yourselves, to your parents and to the State." (Islamia College, Peshawar, April 12, 1948)

Students are undoubtedly the backbone of any progressive nation, provided they have a direction to work in. It is the responsibility of parents and teachers to make sure that the children are aware of the options available to them in academics and eventually career formation. Be it science, commerce or arts, students should know which of the subjects interest them enough to pursue a career in it. Sadly enough, most of the students in our country have not made up their mind as to which field to opt for even when they have reached the graduation level.

Until the ‘90s it was a general trend for parents and accordingly children to want to be a doctor, engineer, pilot etc, because only the science subjects were considered worthwhile when it came to practical application. Commerce and humanities were thought to be the thing for the less brainy and talented people who could not make it in science subjects and will not have much luck in the practical world either.

Soon enough, it so happened that the number of unemployed BSc and MSc pass outs started to increase in number by the day. Lack of research facilities and industries which could provide employment to these students caused saturation of people in the field of science and frustrated unemployed youth became a common sight.

With the dawn of the 21st century steps were being taken to attract investments and develop the infrastructure of the country in order to support industrial development. This change of scenario created a market for the commerce and business students as per the management and auditing requirements. Job opportunities for the commerce faculty students soared up by 65% throughout the country. Since students generally think that this field of education is without any long run benefits in the career perspective, they usually have a tough time in deciding to enter the field, and if they do what are the chances of their success? A lot of people also generally speculate that the finance and accounting sectors will be saturated in the near future.

To be able to justify or deny this forecast we need to take a deeper look into the prospects of the field of commerce. Economic growth is an on going process in our country, which needs speeding up. A lot of commendable efforts have lately been made to improve on the infrastructure so that the economic growth can be facilitated. Industrial development must and will most definitely take place in the near future itself, since there is no other way out for a developing nation like ours. With such prospects in view it can be well imagined that the growing industry will have a lot of requirement for managerial, accounting and finance staff. So if there is any formula for guaranteed success it's in the field of commerce today more than ever before. Science and research have their own value, but with the way things are today their scope is rather limited when compared to commerce.

Nida Zahid, student of BCom passed her matriculation in science subjects, acquiring an A grade but then switched to commerce. She says, "I entered the commerce field because I want to be a banker and am glad I switched since there are unlimited opportunities for new comers."

It should also not be assumed that the field of commerce can be entered only through a specific set of subjects and a particular degree. In fact there is a list of different courses that are being offered by various institutions which one can choose from as it suits one's taste. Some students consider Chartered Accountancy to be the only way of ensuring a future in the finance and commerce fields. Though accounting is a major subject in the field, but statistics, economics and industrial law are not any less worthwhile.

The same is true for the career options in the field; a variety of choices are available. Accountants, managers, auditors, chartered accountants and even cashiers are essential part of any industry or firm. For that matter, even Marketing consists of many of the principles of commerce.

The last but not the least of misconceptions with regard to the field of commerce in the mind of students is its affordability. It is commonly believed that one has to spend a lot in order to qualify as a chartered accountant or MBA etc. But when we compare the number of years and accordingly the amount of money that needs to be devoted for attaining a meaningful qualification in medicine (since MBBS alone isn't enough anymore), accountancy isn't so bad at all. To simplify matters further here are some pieces of information about the costs of different programs.

Azeem Iqbal, an MBA student said, "MBA (Masters in Business Administration) is a course that can be started right after passing simple BBA (four year) or two year BCom and two year BBA (as per new IBA policy). It takes approximately 2.5 years to complete and costs approx 3.5 Lac rupees. If you start MBA after BBA, it will cost Rs 5 Lac as BBA costs Rs 4 Lac but in this case MBA costs just Rs 1 Lac".

Shoaib Akhtar is a student of CA module ‘D' and has started his article ship at Ford Rhodes Sidat Haider, stated, "Complete CA takes 5.5 years and normally costs a maximum of Rupees 2 Lac including course books and other minor expenses. While, if one completes his/her CA from ICAP (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan) it will cost only thirty to forty thousand rupees".

In the case of CA students are supposed to start their article-ship after module ‘D'. This period consists of 3.5 years during which students are required to clear module ‘E' and ‘F'. Firms that offer article-ship pay a sum of Rs 5000 monthly to a student, which further reduces the cost of their course.

It is high time that the students of our country are aware of what's best in the interest of their futures. This article was dedicated to highlighting the importance of just one such successful option, while there are many more which one can become aware of by looking in the right places for guidance.

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