The pandemic of COVID 19 has impacted the economy as a whole. The exact nature and outreach of this is still unfolding and has resulted in public distancing and a situation of mass lockdown in most of the states.
Talking about its hitches on CA students, on 27th March 2020 there was an announcement of the postponement of CA exams which were to be held in May 2020 to June and July 2020 (uncertainty still prevails). This has been a major setback for most of the students.
Firstly, the CA foundation students who are mostly pre-university graduates, generally a bunch of amateurs seem to have tasted the other side already. Amidst the dilemma of solely focusing on CA as a career and joining a college, this postponement adds in for greater confusion. Should I or should I not? The chorus never ends!
Next, the CA Intermediate students who are either graduates or undergoing graduation, are facing moratorium in joining articleship. Too much of free time, no productive outputs and probably enough time to overthink the challenges is demotivating many for sure.
To add, the CA intermediate and final students who are on study leave are also siding obstacles. On 9th April 2020, through video conferencing ICAI President CA Atul Gupta addressed the members & students across the country on matters relating to the profession and course. As a quick fix to the agitation among students, he clarified that the lockdown period will be treated as working for articles. However, the other side of this is, those who are on examination leave, will for sure get more study leave than expected (if rightly taken this is a blessing or otherwise can be depressing) but this period will be added to their leave list. That means, this will exceed the calculated leaves of many students and they will have to work after the date of completion of articleship to compensate the same. Travel plans, family visits, higher studies, and much more seems all uncertain now and is adding on to the anxiety.
One more glitch here is, though this period will be considered as working for articles, the stipend will be as decided by the principal. Moreover, the principal is now in no obligation to pay the whole stipend to his/her articles. Recession is hitting soon! Get ready.
ICAI has been considerate enough to open the window to let students change the examination centre but registering for exams and reselection of groups opted for is not possible yet. With the available time frame, many students would now want to write both groups and taste success at the earliest. Sadly, they can’t apply for it now…
Understanding the importance of social distancing, compulsion to complete GMCS/ ITT by those students appearing in June 2020 is relaxed. The bitter side bothering here is, the students who wish to appear for November 2020 exams may face problems getting permissions. Due to the overload of work post lockdown, principals may deny permissions to complete the same. It’s difficult to concentrate while worrying about this. We understand.
Acting to the need of the hour, the council had decided to restrict events requiring the gathering of members or students as a proactive measure. In line with the aforestated direction issued, the Practical Training Assessment scheduled to be held on March 22, 2020, was postponed for all locations in India and Dubai. This might probably cause an operational difficulty for ICAI during the next attempt.
This situation is not man-made. There is nothing that can be done to undo it. But here are 7 things we suggest you can do to make this period worth it:
- Read, understand and then study – Nothing will be difficult to solve then.
- Spend time with family – They miss you when you are underground.
- Grow yourself – Physically is optionally but mentally is important. The stronger your mind is, the longer you can go.
- Stay away from demotivating/stressful people. If you wish to take some weight, CA books are heavy enough.
- Take ‘n’ number of mock tests. It helps.
- Build a schedule. In that, keep 30 minutes to do anything that makes you happy (every day). Senseless reading, binge-watching, cooking, painting, basically anything that you wanted to do but couldn’t because you said you are a CA student. Use another 30 minutes to stay physically active. Walking within the house, skipping or the basic house cleaning (commonly said झाड़ू पोचा) would work. (The perk here is, along with your body moving, your family will be happy!) Remember, It’s a proven logic that 21 days at a stretch makes you build or break a habit. So use this to transform your life.
- Stay home, stay safe.
This lockdown has surely affected lives of students in some or the other way but the only positive we wish you be right now is, take this time as a reward for selecting this prestigious course and utilize it to gain utmost knowledge so that you can crack the exam code at the earliest and celebrate a bright future.