REPORT OF THE ACADEMIC COMMITTEE ON THE PROPOSED SCHEME OF SYLLABUS 2023 (As approved by the Council in its Meeting held on 21st July 2022 for Stakeholders’ Consultation)
1. Introduction and Background
The Institute undertakes revision of the syllabus for the Company Secretary Course every five years to
match the expectations of its stakeholders, keeping in view the developments that are taking place
in the financial, economic, social, technological, legal, and regulatory spheres.
The present syllabus (Syllabus 2017) of CS Executive and Professional Programmes was approved by
the Council in its 251st Meeting held on 7th February 2018 and became effective from 1st March,
2018 and 1st September 2018 respectively.
The new revised syllabus (Syllabus 2023) is proposed to be effective from 1st February 2023 for CS
Executive Programme and 1st August 2023 for CS Professional Programme.
2. Scope
The concept of classification of curriculum based on Core subjects, Ancillary to Core, and Hybrid
subjects as introduced in Syllabus 2017 is proposed to be continued. However, the proposed syllabus
aims at balancing the papers and their contents in terms of law & policy, practice, and strategic and
managerial aspects, matching the objective of each paper and overall syllabus.
3. Objective of Syllabus 2023
To focus on core areas of the Company Secretary profession.
To supplement the core areas with ancillary, legal, managerial, and other technical skills.
To facilitate the transition of ICSI students into governance professionals, corporate managers/
corporate advisors.
4. Guiding Principles
Aligned with the vision, mission, and motto of the Institute.
Equip students with the skill of understanding and interpreting the law, policies, compliance,
business, and Governance at large.
Flexible and futuristic to meet the expectations of Business and Industry.
Based on interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary approaches.
Skill-based experiential learning for better employability.
In alignment with the National Education Policy for Higher and Professional Institutions.
Balancing the aspects of law, strategy, practice, and management.
Facilitate cross-referencing of the subjects in the curriculum to provide a wider perspective.
Attuning ever-changing technology, automation, and global trends.
Identifying the objective/purpose, learning methodology, and the manner of evaluation of each
paper.
5. Factors considered
Current and Emerging opportunities for Company Secretaries both in terms of employment and
practice.
The future role of governance professionals in the light of changing expectations of stakeholders
especially in terms of ESG, Social Governance, etc.
Changing role of Company Secretaries in the light of technology automation.
Views and expectations of members, industry, and Regulators on the evolving role of the Company
Secretary.
Policy prescribed for Higher Educational and Professional Institutions under the National
Education Policy, 2020.
6. Key Highlights of Proposed Syllabus 2023
Proposed scheme of papers/contents inter alia include:
At Executive Level :
- It is proposed to introduce Intellectual Property Laws (for 40 marks) along with Economic &
Commercial Laws to provide a working knowledge of the regulatory environment governing the IPR
related concepts such as Patents, Trade Marks, Copyright, etc.
- It is proposed to align, redesign and introduce a paper titled ‘Corporate Accounting and
Financial Management’’ by incorporating the relevant areas of papers under the existing syllabus
“Corporate and Management Accounting” and “Financial & Strategic Management” and also
to provide knowledge, understanding of concepts, principles,, and practices
in Company Accounts, Interpretation of Financial Statements, conceptual clarity, and practical
aspects of financial management to develop skills for better financial, investment, and strategic
decision making.
- It is proposed to add “Industrial and Labour Laws” along with the Setting up of Business Entities
as it was felt labor laws are more relevant and applicable since the establishment of business
entities.
- The contents of the paper “Jurisprudence, Interpretation and General Laws” have been fine
tuned to provide a detailed conceptual understanding of the interpretation of
statutes.
- The Company Law & Practice aims to provide a conceptual understanding of the principles of the company
law and to equip the students with working knowledge about management and administration of
companies.
- The proposed syllabus at the Executive Level is reduced by one paper and repetition/duplicacy of
contents have been addressed to make the syllabus lighter.
At Professional Level :
- It is proposed to introduce a paper on “Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) - Principles
and Practice” by adding environmental, social aspects, and reporting mandates to the paper under
current syllabus titled “Governance, Risk Management, Compliances and Ethics”, since ESG
becomes a fiduciary responsibility of every business and executing sustainability transformation
is the need of society and business. Thus, it is relevant while studying Corporate Governance,
Sustainability, Strategies for Corporates, Risk Management, Reporting, etc.
- The paper “Drafting, Pleadings and Appearances” has been overhauled to keep more relevant
content and extensive coverage in line with the needs of contemporary commercial developments.
The pleadings part has now been enriched with NCLT and NCLAT Rules for imparting practical
knowledge of procedures and enhancing the appearance skills of the students. Pleadings and
appearances under SEBI Laws have also been included in the syllabus to apprise and upskill on this
emerging area of practice.
- It is proposed to introduce a paper on “Strategic Management and Corporate Finance” with
a completely different perspective to help students acquire multidimensional skills so that they
understand the process of strategy formulation. This would also provide them with practical and
procedural knowledge on various sources of finance available to corporates at various stages of
their journey and also the legislative framework for raising such funds.
New Elective Papers :
- It is proposed to introduce a paper on “CSR and Social Governance” to provide practical knowledge
on CSR and its implementation, impact assessment, etc. The paper would provide governance
and reporting mandates, and governance challenges of NGOs, and other non-corporate entities.
- A separate paper on “Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics, and Cyber Securities - Laws & Practice”
is proposed to be introduced to help students become Techno-legal Corporate Professionals and
develop their skills in Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Laws. It will also help in establishing
compliance automation and technology aspects involved in compliance and representation
services.
- A paper on “Arbitration, Mediation & Conciliation” is proposed to be added to the syllabus.
The law relating to Arbitration, Mediation, and Conciliation is evolving in the growing economic
environment and is an emerging avenue for CS professionals.
- It is proposed to add a paper titled “Internal and Forensic Audit” which would help in establishing
control systems through Internal and ForensicAuditst thereby opening new vistas of opportunities.
The objective of the examination and evaluation should be to test the required level of knowledge
and skills of the examinees. To achieve this objective, the examination and evaluation system should
ensure:
1. quality of the question papers in terms of coverage and desired level of knowledge;
2. proper combination of theory with practice, analytics, case laws, case studies, and problem
solving approach questions;
3. effective and efficient evaluation system for assessing the performance of the examinees.
It is proposed to introduce a combination of both 20% case-based MCQs (Non-OMR) and 80% descriptive-based examination in all papers at the Executive Level (except Corporate Accounting and Financial Management which is proposed to be 100% descriptive).
Mandatory papers and Elective papers at Professional Level are proposed to be conducted by descriptive
mode and open book examination respectively
Suggestions Invited
ICSI appeals to all Members and Stakeholders to give their valuable inputs on the proposed syllabus before 10th August 2022 by clicking the google form available at the link https://forms.gle/XVN3jtFaGQHTRWDL7
ICSI appeals to all Members and Stakeholders to give their valuable inputs on the proposed syllabus before 10th August 2022 by clicking the google form available at the link https://forms.gle/XVN3jtFaGQHTRWDL7
Your valuable input would be immensely useful in shaping the syllabus to meet
the emerging and future mandates of the profession.
Comments
Post a Comment