The Alumni Association of Accounting (AAA) of the Department of Accounting of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura is organising yet another memorable event to pay gratitude to Emeritus Professor M.W. Wickramarachchi, the founding father of the Department of Accounting.
In recognition of his invaluable service to the accounting education in Sri Lanka in general, and to the Department of Accounting of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura in particular, the event marks the launch of ‘Professor M.W. Wickramarachchi Student Development Fund’ by the AAA for the benefit of present and future generations of students of the Department of Accounting.
Under the able leadership of Prof. Wickramarachchi, the Department of Accounting pioneered the academic accounting education in the Sri Lankan university system with the introduction of B.Sc. Accounting (Special) Degree Programme in the year 1992. This happened at a time the country’s professional accounting education was dominated by professional accounting bodies and technical colleges.
Prof. Wickramarachchi’s vision paved the way to introduce this four-year accounting degree programme with the guiding philosophy of producing accounting graduates with a professional orientation to meet the aspirations of the local and international employment markets. Hence, the B.Sc. Accounting (Special) Degree was designed with a curriculum structure to suit the latest developments in the accounting profession encompassing a two-year compulsory internship programme in accounting and finance and training in the latest computer packages required for the accounting field.
Further, the degree programme is conducted in English to meet the national and international demand for graduates who could work in English. Hence, by incorporating the requirements of the employment market as its salient features, this degree programme has challenged the universities’ traditional obsession of producing graduates who do not satisfy the needs of business organisations.
The B.Sc. Accounting (Special) Degree Programme was a phenomenal success from its inception. As an outcome, graduates of this degree programme are now holding top and middle level managerial positions in the corporate sector and public sector organisations both locally and overseas. Further, the majority of these graduates have simultaneously completed the examinations of professional accounting bodies - ACCA (UK), CA Sri Lanka, CIMA (UK), CPA (Australia), ICAANZ, ICAEWand ICMA Sri Lanka owing to the orientation received from the degree programme.
From the beginning, the academic staff led by Professor Wickramarachchi developed the curriculum of the accounting degree programme by studying the accounting education models of the USA, Canada, the UK, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. The curriculum of the accounting degree program consists of core accounting and finance subjects as well as other subjects such as Business strategy, economics, advanced information technology, business communication and political and social sciences.
With these credentials, the B.Sc. Accounting (Special) Degree Programme has been well received by the corporate and public sectors in Sri Lanka as well as globally over the years. This has been clearly demonstrated by the overwhelming demand for admission to the degree program, its graduates securing employment gainfully both locally and globally, and accreditation of the degree program by international professional accounting bodies such as ACCA, CIMA, CPA Australia and ICAEW.
Having successfully implemented the B.Sc. Accounting (Special) Degree, now the Department of Accounting is in the process of introducing a Master’s Degree in Professional Accounting to non-accounting graduates to provide the opportunity for them to pursue a career in the accounting profession.
Presently, he is developing a model to improve the graduate employability of Sri Lankan universities, which would be an immense use to academia, students as well as education policy setters in the country. Hence, the time is opportune to pay tribute to Professor Wickramarachchi who rendered a yeoman service to the accounting education in Sri Lanka.
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