CIMA intensifies support to students, members and partners amidst COVID-19

• Enables online exams in response to the COVID-19 pandemic 
• Assists students with study support and members with skills and updates 
• Helps members stay updated and relevant for COVID and post-COVID times

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in Sri Lanka initiated a variety of activities since March 2020, despite the pandemic and curfew to assist its students, members and corporate partners. 

Despite COVID-19 and the curfew imposed in Sri Lanka for the past one and a half month to curb the spread of the virus, the CIMA team in Sri Lanka has continued to serve members, students, partners and the public interest. 

Earlier in March, CIMA announced that from May 2020, CIMA students will be able to take their exams online from wherever they are for the first time. This came about as the COVID-19 pandemic had forced many test centres to close, preventing the delivery of CIMA Objective Tests and Case Study exams to students around the world. 

 The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the unified voice of CIMA and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), has been working seamlessly during this situation to help its students and members across the world. 

This move will enable students to continue to progress with their journeys to become Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation holders and increase the pool of management accountants able to support businesses and public services. 

CIMA students across the country have been able to continue their learning through the Registered Tuition Providers who quickly moved 100% into online delivery. CIMA has always been a trend setter, having started with paper-less exams since mid-2000s for CertBA level and thus most students were digital ready and tech savvy. Thus, the pandemic situation and the lockdown had minimal negative impact to their studies. 

There has been great uptake of these exams locally and globally. Students who have completed the exams this way found it to be much less stressful and loved their experience, receiving tremendous positive response. 

“We are continuing to support our students taking exams. We have already completed revision sessions, exam technique sessions, industry expert sessions for case studies, and have many more similar initiatives in line as well,” said CIMA Sri Lanka Country Manager Zahara Ansary ACMA, CGMA. Over 5,000 students had been contacted to update them on the online exam option and to support them with the continuation of their studies.  

“Living in these unprecedented times, we believe there is opportunity to help our students, members and all professionals to sustain themselves and grow despite the challenges thrown in by the pandemic. The world now needs those who are digital ready, can think innovatively and transform businesses and that’s exactly what CIMA does for you – it’s a well-rounded qualification that helps you succeed in whatever industry or function you chose to be in and we are here to help,” said Ansary. 

For the CIMA team in Sri Lanka it has been business as usual to a great extent. The team contacted most of their members checking on their well-being and letting them know about the extension of the subscription deadline as well as the easy payment plans in place and also informing them of the CIMA Benevolent Fund, which can be accessed by members facing any hardships. Associate Members were also encouraged to invest their time on elevating themselves to become FCMAs, with workshops being held. Members are continuously updated with information, updates and new global trends. 

Several online CPDs were held such as, ‘Mindfulness in times of COVID-19’, ‘Managing stress positively’, ‘Financial Management in times of crisis’, ‘Agile work ways and the gig economy’, ‘Recent tax reforms’, etc. CIMA also initiated regional online CPD sessions featuring resource personnel, from across APAC, where members could join any of the sessions which interest them.

In a bid to encourage exam completes to work on their career progress during this downtime, CIMA conducted four ‘Membership Workshops’ via ‘Zoom’ in April and May. For the first time, Zoom based assessment sessions were also held. 

CIMA’s corporate partners have also been assisted at this time, offering them access to all the CPD events and even provided with exclusive sessions. 

There has been a high interest on the qualification and new registrations, given that the entire learning was now digital. The knowledge and skills taught in CIMA, which already factored in digital skills and mindset, when the updated syllabus was launched in 2019 January, would be extremely useful in times like these. 

CIMA also has fast track routes for professionals with academic/professional qualifications and prior work experience and Ansary noted that there has been an increase in demand in applying for such routes as many see the value of the global and prestigious qualification. 

“We look forward to assisting our members, students and partners to get through these challenging times,” she concluded.