Technical Courses In Commerce Planned

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31407, 28 June 1967, Page 6

Technical Courses In Commerce Planned

New courses in commerce will be offered at the technical institutes next year. This has been decided by the Technicians’ Certification Authority after consultation with commercial interests, including the New Zealand Society of Accountants and the Associated Chambers of Commerce.

Subjects offered in 1968 will be those of the first three years of a five-year part-tone course.

The chairman of the authority (Mr G. V. Wild) says the result will probably be a series of five-year part-time courses covering major aspects of business. They will be similar to those open to the engineering community during the last 10 years, and they will lead to the award of the New Zealand certificate in commerce.

In the first two years there will be a fairly wide choice of school certificate and university entrance subjects, so that students starting the course when they leave school may be given exemption from any or all of six subjects, except English, Which the authority requires all to take. The third year, the common base for all later developments, will require the study of three subjects: principles and practice of accountancy, general economics, and introduction to the legal system. “The authority has now approved the pool of subjects for the first two years, and it has agreed on the syllabuses in the third-year subjects,

which will be taught and examined for the first time in 1968.” says Mr Wild. “It is expected that years four and five will follow in 1969 and 1970 respectively, and that the first certificates in commerce will be awarded early in 1971.” Classes probably will be available in the main centres next year. If the demand develops as expected, the smaller towns where technical classes already exist may be asked to provide tuition in commercial subjects. Students outside these limits will be able to enrol with the Technical Correspondence Institute.