‘Errors in Evaluation Shattered My Dream of Becoming a CA’

Video Editor: Abhishek Sharma

On 27 May, I appeared for my CA final exam. It was my fourth attempt and had I cleared it, I’d have been a Chartered Accountant. I needed 13 marks to pass. When I saw my answer sheet, I was shocked to see I had got 32 marks in the Audit exam, the number I needed to pass, but it had been cut down by 13 marks. My total was down to 19 marks now.

These errors in the process of evaluation have led to protests by CA aspirants across the country. Many students at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)-CA staged a protest on Monday, 23 September, at ITO in Delhi, demanding reforms in the evaluation process. The hashtag #dearICAIpleasechange has been trending on Twitter.

But, will the ICAI really change?

There are many similar stories of erroneous evaluation procedure impacting students’ careers and compromising their future. As aforementioned, I was awarded 32 marks in Audit and the cumulative total is 187 marks. I needed 13 marks to pass and exactly 13 marks were cut.

Is the ICAI manipulating marks? They’ve cut marks in every answer. In one question, I got 2 marks but they were reduced to 1. Despite my answer matching the ‘suggested answer’ template, my marks were reduced. In another question, 4 marks have been cut down to 2. To what end has this been done? What is the rationale behind this? I don’t have answers to either question.

They seem to be playing with students’ careers! There’s an OMR sheet attached to the mark-sheet. What am I supposed to do with it? It doesn’t indicate what marks I have been awarded. Since we’re paying the full examination fees, the least we expect is proper and thorough evaluation.

The ICAI, in a press release, stated digital evaluation of answer books, the process by no means helps scores who have been trying to clear the exam for years.

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