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Be a Smart Student ¡V Tips for Selecting the Course Providers and Courses
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| Tip 1 |
Objective Setting |
| You had better decide the field and objectives of your studies before setting out to do so. For the time being, numerous courses in a hundred of different fields are being provided by various course providers in different sizes, some of which purport to be qualified for awarding professional credentials and/or recommending students for sitting internationally accredited examinations. Some training bodies may also claim to be able to recommend students with satisfactory results in their studies to some other organizations for employment. People, dazzled and attracted by the exaggerated propaganda, may somehow sign up and pay for some courses they are not quite familiar with or interested in. It will be however time-consuming and money-wasting for them to withdraw from their studies shortly after the course commencement. Therefore, you have to ascertain what subjects you like to study and what goals you hope to attain. You, having confirmed the field and objectives of your studies, must opt for a right course accordingly and should not be influenced by propaganda or your friends. |
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| Tip 2 |
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After confirming the field and goals of studies, you have to deliberate about your academic level, financial situation and time allocation in order to select a suitable course. You are advised not to overestimate your capability. For example, you have to realize your academic level so as to avoid selecting a course the level of which is too high or low for you. This will waste both your precious time and money. Concerning the financial matters, although the government provides students with financial assistance/loan, there is limitation of eligibility for the application, to which you have to pay attention. [If you need more details on the eligibility for the application of the student financial assistance/loan administered by the Student Financial Assistance Agency (SFAA), you may browse through the relevant information on the Agency's website, http://www.sfaa.gov.hk/eng/index.htm]. Students eligible for the student financial assistance/loan application should still note the terms and conditions of submitting application.
In addition, to sign up for a course costing an expensive tuition fee may tremendously increase your financial pressure in the future. From our experience, many applicants had not deliberated about their repayment ability before their application, which made some of them run into serious financial difficulties. ?It is prudent for you to carefully estimate your capability and make your financial plan before your application for admission. Please be reminded of deliberating before action. |
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Tip 3 |
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| Collecting course information from various channels, such as advertisements, friends and promotional leaflets, you will be able to compare courses with similar content run by various training bodies and then screen out the unsuitable ones. The course providers may demonstrate the best and most fascinating features of their courses to their customers and play down the worst. When making a decision to sign up and pay for a course, you have to avert solely relying on any single source of information. You should bear in mind the possible discrepancies between the promises of the course providers and the reality. Some course providers, touting for business, may claim that their students are eligible to apply for the Continuing Education Fund (CEF) run by SFAA. In your best interests, you have to browse through our online information at http://www.sfaa.gov.hk/cef/course.htm so as to clarify whether or not a course is included in the Reimbursable Course List of CEF. |
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| Tip 4 |
Ask If You Have Doubts |
You have to be of a cautious and skeptical mind in comparing the promotional advertisements of different training bodies. To verify if the promotional information is authentic and genuine, you should never hesitate to make enquiries particularly about the course content, the total amount of tuition fees, the number of instalments for the tuition fee payment, the conducting agency, the course duration, the number of course sessions, the mode of delivery, the medium of instruction and etc.? The course specifications of all the reimbursable courses under CEF can be found in the website of SFAA (http://www.sfaa.gov.hk/cef/courseinfo.htm).?You should verify the promotional information of the course provider with those in the SFAA's website and clarify with the course provider or SFAA (24-hour hotline : 3142 2277) when discrepancy is found.
Meanwhile, if there is any discrepancy between the promotional information and the staff members' verbal explanation, you may request the course provider to alter the contractual terms and affix a seal thereto. Remember not to be trapped by propaganda or any verbal promise. |
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| Tip 5 |
Site Observation |
| After enquiring and screening out the unsuitable courses, you will be able to list the suitable ones for your site observation. Paying a visit to the course providers, you have to scrutinize their registration documents, note the classroom environment and, if approved, observe the lecture delivery. Besides, when you enquire about the course details during your visit, a pleasant and amiable staff member usually give you a detailed explanation, striving and endeavouring to persuade you to put down a deposit on the course. As a staff member of the course providers, he or she is of good knowledge about the institutions but his or her explanation may ineluctably contain errors or omit some essential information. (Staff members of a few course providers may earn their commissions on every course they successfully sell, thus tending to overstate the merits of the course and downplay its demerits.) Therefore, please bear in mind that the site observation is just for the sake of authenticating information collected and having a further understanding of the relevant training bodies. |
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| Tip 6 |
Deliberation Before Action |
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| The training body, unlike an insurance company, does not provide customers with a cooling-off period. Once part or all of the tuition fee is paid, it will be difficult to request a refund whether your payment is made by cheque or in cash. Hence, you, though satisfied with the course provider after your site observation, should avoid any immediate payment of the tuition fee (including any deposit). You should allow two or three days to consider your options. After making your decision, you should still ward off a one-off payment of the tuition fee. Before assessing your need, you should not hastily agree to sign any contract with the course provider the terms whereof stipulate your obligation to pay the instalments regularly. In the event of your refusal to do so out of your dissatisfaction with the quality of the course, the course provider may look on it as a breach of the contract and, in turn, file a lawsuit against you. As a matter of fact, you may request a short-term studying trial wherein your payment is on a monthly basis in order that you can make sure of the suitability of the course for you before deciding to take the whole course |
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| Tip 7 |
Retain All the Receipts |
| All CEF course providers are required
to collect the tuition fees of CEF "Reimbursable
Courses" on an equal monthly instalments basis except
those which have been granted exemption by the Secretary
for the Labour and Welfare Bureau. After paying the tuition fee, you have to request the issue of a receipt from the course provider. The receipt should indicate the name of the course provider, the course of studies and the monies paid. You may also attach all the promotional leaflets to the receipt in order to facilitate your future evaluation of the quality of the course. For your benefit, you should be so circumspect as to keep all of the receipts. |
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| Tip 8 |
Handle Everything In Person |
| In the whole process of selecting your course provider and course, you had better do everything in a self-reliant manner since it is inappropriate for other people to make any decision on your behalf. For instance, your proxies may misunderstand your expectation and may not be able to consider your situation. You should personally take care of any procedure involving money, such as the payment of the tuition fee and the application for the student financial assistance/loan, instead of authorizing a stranger to do so. |
SFAA earnestly hopes that you can select a suitable course with the assistance of the aforementioned tips and realize your ideals through continuous education!
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