…to strengthen accounting standards
By Rethabile Pitso
THE Lesotho Institute of Accountants (LIA) and the Council on Higher Education (CHE) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at strengthening the regulation of accounting qualifications and bridging gaps between academic training and professional practice.
Under the agreement, LIA will provide technical expertise to CHE in the verification and assessment of accounting qualifications and programmes submitted for registration and accreditation.
The partnership will also assist the two institutions in identifying and eliminating unregulated programmes that could mislead unsuspecting students into believing they are enrolled in accredited institutions.
The MoU was signed in Maseru yesterday, with CHE Chief Executive Dr Moeketsi Letele leading the Council’s delegation and LIA represented by its Chief Executive Officer, Malisebo Ntlhokoe.
The agreement has no fixed expiry date but will be reviewed every three years.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Dr Letele said the partnership would help address disparities in the accounting sector, particularly the mismatch between academic programmes, professional requirements and labour market needs.
“CHE is concerned about the level of mismatch that we are witnessing between the academic programmes and the professional programmes that are offered in this country versus the labour market needs,” he said.
“We see this mismatch being an elephant in the room that must be addressed through collaborations of this nature.”
Dr Letele said CHE had undertaken several initiatives to improve the relevance of higher education, including the development of relevance indicators and consultations with stakeholders on how higher education could better respond to the needs of industry and society.
He said the signing of the MoU marked an important step towards achieving that objective by bringing professional bodies such as LIA into the process.
“We acknowledge that if you need to be more impactful, one needs to forge partnerships that would enable you to achieve the goals you aspire to become a reality,” Dr Letele said.
“So today we mark an important milestone in strengthening the quality and relevance of higher education and professional training in Lesotho. Through this collaboration, we are committing to working together to promote excellence and ensure our accounting industry and related fields are able to bring the necessary impact required in the country.”
He said the two institutions would conduct joint research, share expertise and maintain regular communication while working to align academic and professional programmes with the scope of practice within the accounting profession.
Ms Ntlhokoe said the MoU represented a strategic alliance that would have a direct impact on the country’s economic development.
“Historically, there has been a persistent gap between academic theory and professional application. Higher education programmes produce graduates, but the market demands professionals who are ready to hit the ground running,” she said.
“By aligning our regulatory powers with CHE, which is the absolute guardian of higher education quality, we are bridging the gap once and for all.”
Ms Ntlhokoe said LIA was committed to providing the technical expertise required by CHE to guide the assessment and regulation of accounting qualifications and programmes.
“We aim to ensure that academic programmes are aligned and fully recognised onto LIA’s international qualification framework,” she said.
“LIA will further actively provide industry-specific technical expertise to assist CHE in verifying, auditing and registering qualifications, thus assisting to eliminate unregulated programmes.”
She warned that institutions failing to meet the required standards would not be allowed to continue training future accounting professionals.
“In future, institutions which do not meet the benchmark requirements of both CHE and the Accountants’ Act will have no business training our future financial leaders,” she said.
