Development of Human Resources at the Tertiary Level: Lessons From an Innovation in Accountancy Education in Jamaica

Abstract

By the late sixties in Jamaica there were problems with the UK professional accountancy qualification route, the ACCA. These included low output of qualified accountants, rote learning of non-relevant material and the high cost in foreign exchange. In 1968, the crisis came to a head when there when there was the possibility that the ACCA would discontinue examining overseas students. A new qualification route through a M.Sc. Accounting was developed and delivered by the Department of Management Studies at the UWI, Mona. By the time the programme came on stream, the ACCA discontinuance threat had passed and there were now two routes to professional qualification. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Jamaica, the major player in the recognition of new entrants to the profession, became uncomfortable with the new academic route and in 1986 withdrew recognition of the M.Sc. as the final theoretical examination for membership. Following a review by an international panel in 1990 it was reinstated. This paper examines the issues involved in the rejection of this innovation, the lessons to be learned concerning the awareness of innovation theory and makes recommendations for university-based professional programmes.