Publication Date
1997
Recommended Citation
Wijewardena, H. and Yapa, S., Colonialism of Accounting Education in Developing Countries: The Experiences of Singapore and Sri Lanka, School of Accounting & Finance, University of Wollongong, Working Paper 9, 1997.
https://ro.uow.edu.au/accfinwp/60
Abstract
This paper provides a comparative analysis of the nature of accounting education in Singapore and Sri Lanka. Both these countries were British colonies for nearly one hundred and fifty years and inherited their accounting education from the British. Consequently, even after nearly fifty years of independence, Sri Lanka is still following the colonial system for producing its accountants. Singapore, however, has successfully moved away from it within four years of independence. More importantly, the paper indicates that if a developing country continues to depend so heavily on foreign accounting bodies or produces accountants locally through education programmes based on the curricula of Western developed countries, the consequences can be disastrous.