The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) through its Board of Studies (Academic) organised a two-day National Education Summit on Commerce & Accountancy (NES-CA) on 6th & 7th January 2023 at New Delhi. The summit witnessed an overwhelming participation from renowned Academicians, Experts, Vice Chancellors, Directors, Deans, Principals, HoDs, Chairmen & Professors from the field of Commerce and Accounting from over 25 States.

The second day witnessed the guest speakers like CA. Dayaniwas Sharma, Chairman, Board of Studies; CA. Nihar N. Jambusaria, Past President, ICAI; CA. Vishal Doshi, Vice-Chairman Board of Studies; Prof. Nageshwar Rao, Vice Chancellor, IGNOU; Dr. Joseph Emmanuel, Director (Academic), CBSE; Ms. Bindu Das, Associate Professor, Dept. of Philosophy, University of Delhi and other delegates discussing around Technology, Innovation, Academics and Skill Based Approach, Integration of University Education and Professional Education of Chartered Accountancy etc.

NES-CA aims to standardize Commerce & Accounting education at Higher Secondary and Undergraduate levels of schools/collegesuniversities across India. To take this forward, ICAI has partnered with the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) for this NES-CA Summit.

CA. Dayaniwas Sharma, Chairman, Board of expressed his gratitude towards the august audience for their kind presence. He strongly emphasized that “Education not only transforms a person it transforms a family, a community, a society and nation.” He highlighted that the booklet ICAI Exemplar: Preparing Future Ready Commerce Graduates corroborates the forward-looking vision of the ICAI and vision of National Education Policy 2020. He apprised the gathering that for ICAI, the development of its people matters the most and therefore one should always “Aspire to Inspire” to bring out the new change for the future generation. In the same light, he stressed upon the contribution of the ICAI in Commerce Education System in terms of the review of UGC LOCF (Learning Outcomes-based Curriculum Framework) 2021 for Commerce Undergraduate Education. He focussed on the pivotal role being played by the ICAI in raising awareness about financial and tax literacy among masses.

Ms. Bindu Das, Associate Professor, Dept. of Philosophy, University of Delhi spoke about a very relevant topic i.e “Mythology and traditions have a significant position in the knowledge system. Ms. Das shared “ Methodology from Mythology can be a significant tool for the future of our education system, provided we incorporate our ancient wisdom and try to reflect on it. Mythology shows us that, for education, one must– Debate to find the truth, not just win. Pursuit gaining the right knowledge with truth, novelty, and skill development. Be “Adhikari”, which means one can gain knowledge and follow one’s Passion. A student must also have the power to discriminate between ‘Nitya Anitya Vaastu Vivek’, the eternal and non-eternal elements, between what is necessary and not.”

She further adds “What both students and teachers need to follow is: Hear each other, Have Faith, Reason and Reflect with contemplation. Mythology is more than just stories; it goes beyond and gives you the pearls of wisdom and builds a relationship between the teacher and the student. Our job is to see what novelty we can pick from our ancient system and incorporate into our lives.” She praised the ICAI for sharing with the society, its vast knowledge in the field of accounting and commerce education acquired over the period of time and through successful research work.

The Summit also witnessed a Panel Discussion on “Integration of University Education and Professional Education of Chartered Accountancy- Way Forward” wherein the experts CA. Ved Jain,Past President ICAI, Dr. Archana Thakur, Joint Secretary, UGC discussed and shared their views.

Prof. Nageshwar Rao, Vice Chancellor, IGNOU and Dr. Joseph Emmanuel, Director (Academic), CBSE shared their views regarding “Importance of Finance & Tax Literacy in Various Stream of Education”.

CA. Vishal Doshi, Vice-Chairman, Board of Studies thanked the guests “I take this opportunity to thank each one of you who have graced us with their presence and interacted with us at this landmark event. ICAI will keep growing and offering the better than the best.”

The summit emphasised aligning the nation's commerce and accounting education as One India, One Accounting and One World to skills and prepare Future-Ready Commerce Graduates and to make India a “Vishwaguru” in the accounting world. In accordance with the Government of India's mission on Financial Literacy or Vittiya Saksharta, the dignitaries lauded ICAI's efforts to make India financially literate.