CIMA supports students, members and partners during COVID-19

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in Sri Lanka, said this week, that it has initiated a variety of activities since March, despite the pandemic and curfew to assist its students, members and corporate partners.

Despite COVID-19 and the curfew imposed in Sri Lanka since late March, CIMA team in Sri Lanka has continued to serve members, students, partners and the public interest, the organisation said in a media release.

Earlier in March, CIMA announced that from May 2020, CIMA students will be able to take their exams online from wherever they are for the first time. This came about as the COVID-19 pandemic had forced many test centres to close, preventing the delivery of CIMA Objective Tests and Case Study exams to students around the world.

CIMA students across the country have been able to continue their learning through the Registered Tuition Providers who quickly moved 100% into online delivery.

There has been great uptake of these exams locally and globally. Students who have completed the exams this way found it to be much less stressful and loved their experience, receiving tremendous positive response, the release said.

“We are continuing to support our students taking exams. We have already completed revision sessions, exam technique sessions, industry expert sessions for Case Studies and have many more similar initiatives in line as well,” said Zahara Ansary ACMA, CGMA, Sri Lanka Country Manager for CIMA. Over 5000 students had been contacted to update them on the online exam option and to support them with the continuation of their studies.

For the CIMA team in Sri Lanka it has been business as usual to a great extent. The team contacted most of their members checking on their well-being and letting them know about the extension of the subscription deadline as well as the easy payment plans in place and also informing them of the CIMA Benevolent Fund, which can be accessed by members facing any hardships.

CIMA also conducted four ‘Membership Workshops’ via ‘Zoom’ in April and May. For the first time, Zoom based assessment sessions were also held.