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Kate Whitehead

The Hong Kong Society of Accountants (HKSA) has become the SAR's first professional body to offer continuing education online.

The e-learning component of the society's Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme was launched last week on its Web site.

A new 'e-manager' programme offers 50 online courses for varying levels of ability. Study areas include leadership, team-building, communication, personal development, project management and strategic planning.

Under the society's CPD obligations, introduced in January 1999, all members - except those retired - must complete 40 CPD hours a year. Practising members must include at least 15 hours of structured learning.

'The e-learning programme allows members to learn at their convenience and gain CPD credits anywhere, anytime, according to their pace and preference. It also helps enhance our members' IT application skills in the process,' said Doug Oxley, chairman of the society's CPD programme.

The flexibility of study hours would make it likely that members' quality of study might improve, he said. 'They won't have to rush from work to a seminar -  they can study at a time that suits them.'

Mr Oxley said that today's professional accountants were expected not only to be competent in traditional accounting and auditing skills, but were increasingly seen as business advisers and consultants. 'Members should keep their management knowledge, generic and IT skills up to date. These skills are critical to their business performance and career development,' he said.

Each course, which lasts from 2.5 to four hours, costs HK$145. Subscribers are given unlimited access for six months.

E-seminar and e-conference services were also launched last week, giving members access to videos of CPD activities. In a pilot test of the system in February, more than 2,500 users tried the free prototype. Subscribers will now be charged $200 per conference and $120 per seminar. The scope for expansion was wide, said Mr Oxley, as the HKSA was Hong Kong's largest professional body, with 18,000 members.

Georgina Chan Tan Soh-tin, HKSA's director of education and training, said there was still a lot of work to be done to make the system user-friendly. 'We want to add more assessment and games to test understanding. This is just our first step: we want to get people to accept this mode of delivery.'

Mr Oxley said the e-learning programme, which had been on the drawing board for five years, was also proving of interest to those outside the industry. Lawyers, among other professionals, had been using the online courses, and he expected the other eight local professional bodies to follow.

The HKSA's e-learning programme can be accessed through its Web site at www.hksa.org.hk



E-courses give HKSA  a professional edge