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ACCA Accredits UFS Accountancy Programmes

06 May 2020 | Story Nitha Ramnath

The quality of the following University of the Free State (UFS) Accountancy programmes is internationally recognised, as it has been accredited by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) after a thorough review of the modules offered:

• Bachelor of Accountancy (BAcc)

• Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Accounting (BComHons in Accounting)

• Postgraduate Diploma in General Accounting (PGDip [General Accountancy])

The implications of this accreditation are that graduates of these programmes will be eligible for direct admission to the Strategic Professional level (i.e. the highest level) of the ACCA qualification structure – a level aimed at preparing students for future leadership positions. Graduates of the BCom Accounting (BCom [Accounting]) programme will receive exemption from all of the ACCA’s ‘applied knowledge’ examinations as well as many of its ‘applied skills’ examinations.

According to the ACCA website: “We’re a thriving global community of 219 000 members and 527 000 students based in 179 countries that upholds the highest professional and ethical values.”

Internationally recognised accreditation

Haneke van Zyl, the Programme Director: General Accountancy and Research at the UFS, commented: “As this designation is internationally recognised, the ACCA accreditation of our programmes is vital in the School of Accountancy’s quest to acknowledge our diverse student body and to provide a wide range of opportunities to our Accounting students. We believe that each of our students should be empowered to become the best versions of themselves – and this accreditation will open more doors for them.”

As a result of this accreditation, ACCA will also actively assist UFS graduates of the aforementioned programmes to pursue ACCA membership through programmes such as ‘Accelerate’, which subsidises the various fees payable by aspirant members of ACCA.

Prof Frans Prinsloo, the Director of the School of Accountancy at the UFS, added: “We are very proud of the quality of our programmes – which are now accredited by all the leading professional bodies that operate in South Africa, i.e. the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), the SA Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA), the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and most recently, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). This is testament not only to the quality of the school’s curricula and teaching and learning resources, but vitally important also to the calibre of academic staff – who are not only highly qualified and experienced in facilitating teaching and learning, but also committed to their students’ success.”

Van Zyl added: “We have drawn on the curriculum structures of these leading professional bodies to inform our curricula – thereby ensuring the continued relevance of our graduates in the fast changing world of work that is being transformed by the 4th Industrial Revolution. Far from becoming obsolete in this environment, appropriately qualified accountants will become key providers of credible information for organisational decision-making – a function without which no organisation can be successful and thrive.”

Prof Prinsloo acknowledged the hard work of the colleagues in developing all the required documents needed to obtain the ACCA accreditation: “The accreditation is the result of a combined effort by the colleagues from the School of Accountancy, guided by the responsible programme director, Mrs Haneke van Zyl. It is testament to the hard work and effort that the lecturers involved in the programmes have put in.”

News Archive

International Year of Crystallography attracts science experts from across the globe

2014-10-13

Video: Discover what Chrystallopgraphy can do for you
Video: Celebrating Crystallography: An Animated Adventure

Summit programme

The third world summit in the International Year of Crystallography (in Africa) will be hosted by the UFS Department of Chemistry here on the Bloemfontein Campus. Prof André Roodt, Head of the Department of Chemistry, was elected as the President of the European Crystallographic Association in 2012. Earlier this year he unveiled the Max von Laue 'Plaque' in Posnan, Poland.

The Pan-African Meeting of the International Year of Crystallography consists of a congress and summit. The details are as follows:

Congress
12–15 October 2014
CR Swart Senate Hall, UFS Bloemfontein Campus

Summit
15–17 October 2014
CR Swart Senate Hall, UFS Bloemfontein Campus
Summit opening: Wednesday 15 October 2014 at 14:00 in the CR Swart Senate Hall

This event will be opened and attended by:
•   the UFS Rector and Vice-Rector – Profs Jonathan Jansen and Corli Witthuhn;
•   the acting Director-General of the Department of Science and Technology – Dr Thomas Auf der Heyde;
•   the acting CEO of the National Research Foundation – Dr Gansen Pillay;
•   the UNESCO Vice-Director for Science Extension – Dr Jean-Paul Ngome-Abiaga (Paris, France);
•   the representative of the Executive Committee for the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) – Prof Santiago Garcia-Granda (Oviedo: Spain);
•   the marketing director of the IUCr – Prof Michele Zema (Pavia, Italy);
•   the President of the European Crystallographic Association (ECA) – Prof André Roodt, who will officially open the summit on Wednesday 15 October 2014 from 14:00–15:30.

Presenters from across Africa and Europe will deliver papers at this event which will be attended by more than 100 delegates from twenty-plus countries, including Spain, France, Italy, Croatia, Germany, Russia and India.

Numerous crystallographic research areas will be covered. This includes:
•   powder diffraction,
•   small molecule crystallography,
•   biological crystallography,
•   industrial crystallography,
•   surface crystallography,
as well as techniques such as
•   electron microscopy and
•   synchrotron work.

“At this event we hope to establish an African Crystallographic Association,” said Prof Roodt.

The United Nations declared 2014 as the International Year of Crystallography. It was recently officially opened at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, by the Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon.

The International Year of Crystallography celebrates the centennial of the work of Max von Laue and the father and son, William Henry and William Laurence Bragg. More generally, it celebrates what crystallography can do for humanity – which proves to be a significant amount.

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