CXC renews partnership with professional accountancy body

The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) has renewed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). The MoU, signed on June 27 at the CXC headquarters in Barbados by Dr Wayne Wesley, registrar and chief executive officer of the CXC, and Paula Marcelle-Irish, head of ACCA Caribbean, will mark the seventh year of a longstanding collaboration between both organisations. The MoU aims to promote knowledge sharing to strengthen the quality of curriculum development, delivery and assessment of accountancy and taxation courses across the region’s education and training system.

“This is the third renewal of our MoU, which was first signed in 2017 and then renewed in 2020”, said Dr Wesley. “We believe that, by working together, we can leverage the collective expertise of both our organisations, to the benefit of our students, which will in turn enhance professional excellence across the Caribbean,” he added.

The renewal of the partnership has also been hailed as a progressive step towards fostering a robust financial ecosystem in the Caribbean, underpinning the critical role of accountancy and taxation in regional development.

Marcelle-Irish, in emphasising the importance of the collaboration, said: “This partnership will have a far-reaching impact and will greatly benefit students throughout the Caribbean. Through continuous training in international best practices, our students will be equipped with the necessary skills and competencies to become the leading accountancy and finance professionals in the future, thereby driving economic integration and development in our region.”

A release notes that the key objectives of the CXC-ACCA MoU include enhanced professional training by organising workshops and courses, to provide world-class training on best practices for accountants and tax professionals in the Caribbean. These courses, developed in conjunction with the CXC, will be tailor-made to ensure that students are trained in the highest standards of professional practice and ethics. They are:

• Developing professional programmes and undertaking collaborative initiatives for teacher training.

• Developing-and upgrading curricula to prepare regional students for successful careers in finance and taxation.

• Strengthening institutional capacity building through ongoing technical exchange; and

• Undertaking joint programmes for continued professional development and training, and raising awareness about the importance of sound financial management and tax compliance training.

The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) was established in 1972 under agreement by the participating governments in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). CXC assures the global human resource competitiveness of the Caribbean through the provision of syllabuses of the highest quality; valid and reliable examinations and certificates of international repute for students of all ages, abilities and interests; services to educational institutions in the development of syllabuses, and examinations and examinations’ administration, in the most cost-effective way.

CXC comprises 16 participating countries: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos Islands.

ACCA is a globally recognised professional accountancy body, providing qualifications and advancing standards in accountancy worldwide.