IIRM school to impart actuarial education

The Institute of Insurance and Risk Management (IIRM), a joint initiative by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) and the Andhra Pradesh government, has opened its International School of Actuarial Sciences (ISAS) in Hyderabad.

A first-of-its-kind in the country, the school offers a two-year post-graduate diploma in actuarial sciences to students who aspire to become actuarial professionals and actuaries.

An actuary is a person whose job involves calculating insurance risks and payments for insurance firms by studying how frequently accidents, fires, deaths, etc happen.

The course is open to graduates and also to students who are already appearing for the actuarial professional examinations conducted by the Actuarial Society of India (ASI), Mumbai, and the Institute of Actuaries, London.

"The course has adopted the curriculum of the ASI and the Institute of Actuaries, and aims to prepare students through traditional classroom teaching, apart from intensive tutorial work and case studies," an IIRM press release said.

"Currently, students take these professional examinations by self-study and with limited guidance. It is the aim of the ISAS to provide the required guidance and training to students and increase the number of actuaries in the country, which is very low. The subjects are taught by persons who have been in the actuarial profession," the release added.

The school is headed by DV Sastry, who was a faculty member at the Hartford University in the United States, until recently.