August 19 might have started with a downpour and slate grey skies but the unseasonal weather did not dampen any spirits at M Hotel where a new student work placement programme was sealed between SIT and some of Singapore’s largest accounting firms.
At the signing ceremony, Professor Ting Seng Kiong, Deputy President (Academic) and Provost, SIT, formalised the university’s partnerships with Baker Tilly TFW LLP, BDO LLP, Deloitte & Touche LLP, Ernst & Young LLP, Foo Kon Tan Grant Thornton LLP, KPMG Services Pte Ltd, Nexia T S Public Accounting Corporation, PKF-CAP LLP, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, RSM Chio Lim LLP, and UHY Lee Seng Chan & Co.
Prof Ting said: “This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signals the start of an ambitious and possibly game-changing partnership between the university and its industry partners in Singapore.”
The partnerships with the accounting companies are a cornerstone of SIT’s Integrated Work Study Programme (IWSP). The collaborations will enhance the value of SIT’s Bachelor of Accountancy with Honours degree offering by providing accountancy students opportunities to integrate knowledge and skills gained in the classroom with real-world practice. SIT’s accountancy degree is one of three degree programmes the university is awarding in its own name after it achieved autonomous university status earlier this year. The other two degree programmes are: Bachelor of Engineering with Honours in Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering and Bachelor of Engineering with Honours in Information and Communications Technology.
The IWSP model is different from an internship in that SIT undergraduates join their host companies ‘work ready’. Also, the IWSP runs over a longer period of time as accountancy work placements stretch through auditing peaks in the financial year, according to Jocelyn Goh, Partner, BDO. “Internships typically last for 10 weeks for most undergraduates. The IWSP will be an eight-month programme held over two trimesters of four months each. Each undergraduate will have to go back to the same accounting firm for the two trimesters to complete the IWSP,” she explained.
Henry Tan, managing director of Nexia TS also chimed in on the advantage of the IWSP: “SIT has arranged its programme such that the IWSP is held during our peak period; this allows us to arrange our work schedules to allocate to the [students]. With an eight-month commitment, they are equivalent to full-time staff.”
In all, the IWSP augurs positively for Singapore’s accounting industry. “Many young accountancy graduates are not committed to stay in this industry because of perception issues; the IWSP will change the young accountancy graduates’ perceptions that auditors will have to work long hours,” affirmed Goh.
