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Van der Merwe (2014) suggests that education has the ability to solve problems in modern society. With the rapid growth of the service economy and education being seen as service it has generated a lot of interest in the study of education as a service. From business and technological viewpoints, education which leads to knowledge is the source of sustainable and strategic competitive advantage. As the service sector of the global economy grows, the service industry will become a major component of modern countries and economies. Service orientation hence will become more prominent and increasingly evident even in developing economies (Ibrahim, Abdallahamed, & Adam, 2018).
An accounting education system comprises of the faculty, students, the course content as well as all resources needed to meet learning requirements. Darwin (2011) emphasizes that many university business courses offer Financial Accounting as one of its subject as it helps students to know how to record business transactions as well as how to interpret and analyze financial information for decision-making purposes. Therefore, there is need to be given an opportunity to practice accounting through variety of assessments such as homework, develop good study habits, continuous support and mentorship for students of financial accounting. Fouché (2006) cited by Fouché (2013) identifies five factors which affect accounting education. These factors are the constantly changing modern day business environment due to globalization; inadequate skills by students; need for continuous improvement due to technological advancement; need to help new generation of learners; and lecturers who resist changing and adopting new innovative ways to facilitate learning and expose students to the needs of the market place. Lectures instead of posing a big threat to the accounting vocation and chasing away potential students should see themselves as service providers and attempt to achieve the high levels of satisfaction and loyalty by delivering reliable and unique services. So, as service providers they need to design innovative services to create good experiences and attract more students to their courses (Hsieh, & Yuan, 2010).
On the other hand, in their study to assess performance of Ghanaian and Nigerian private universities, Amponsah & Onuoha (2013) observed that private universities provide undisrupted education, enhanced and proficient management throughout the year. However, they detected that they face equally the same challenges of funding, accreditation and production of quality and ethical graduates like public universities. Further, the findings of Tailab (2013), indicate that major challenges hampering students learning are negative way of perceiving accounting courses, scarce teaching assistants, insufficient computer resources, poor relationship between students and the faculty, dormitories which are crowded, challenges with English aptitude, no link between theory and practice, shortage of appropriate textbooks and examinations, and lack of relevant textbooks and exams. Some solutions to overcome these challenges are incorporating Information Technology (IT) in the teaching of Accounting courses, upgrading textbooks and training instructors to become effective as well as offering “pre-accounting courses.” In addition, Okafor (2012), suggest that three essential skills such as “education, skills and attitudes” are necessary to prepare and produce quality graduates who can face the challenges of modern business and economic needs of the government.