" I don’t think they take their enrollments and enquiries seriously. I have been waiting weeks for them to get back to me. "
08 September 2023
Anynomous
" I completed a course there some time ago and it's totally not worth the money. I'm taking time to write this lengthy review because I want to give anyone who's interested in studying there an honest review. Not everyone who has studied there will agree with me but this is what I feel.
1. Some lecturers are clearly not qualified to teach a certain module because it is not part of their specialisation of their degree. One lecturer actually revealed that he just read a textbook prior to teaching some module which he had no idea on. Is this even ethical? That being said, some lecturers are very experienced and knowledgeable in their field but i would say that's only 2 out of 5.
2. I'm really not sure how useful and recognised the diplomas you earned there are in your job search and further study. Instead of spending 7-8k of your hard earned money on a dubious piece of diploma, I would strongly recommend prospective students who are keen on studying sth related to early childhood, special needs, education etc to go to more recognised institutions like NGEE ANN POLY. They have diplomas for these subjects area and diplomas from Ngee Ann are actually what employers want as stated in many job advertisements I have come across.
3. Assignment questions are not very well set, to be honest. The questions are literally cut and paste from the textbooks and if I do a search on the pdf of the textbook, I can find highly similar sentences in the text and just find the answers. It reflects the amount of effort lecturers put in to setting assignment questions. Furthermore, many questions in the assignments are REPEATED in the exam. This makes the exam pointless because it's not testing your understanding, it's testing your memory. Again, it reflects badly on the lecturers. Essay questions are not very well set as well as the scope is narrow and it's more like a structured question.
4. They charge you $200 for a certificate if you want to get it and it takes many months to print. Why $200? It is stated in the contract so if you don't agree with it, you can't study there.
5. The "practicum" which they advertised are also not very friendly for working adults who have a full time day job as they rarely accept applicants who can't make it in the day.
6. They seem to sell textbooks to students at a marked up price. Initially I didn't know so I bought the textbooks from them but when I went online to check, I could have got a new textbook at a cheaper price. Since they bought it in bulk, not sure why it's still so expensive ($120). Anyway, don't buy textbooks from them, you can get it on carousell or second hand bookshops at a cheaper price.
7. The modules are poorly planned and organised. Diploma students, advanced diploma, specialist diploma and graduate diploma students ALL take the same class. Shouldn't there be different classes to cater to different starting points? Clearly diploma students do not have as much understanding in a certain area compared to a graduate diploma student and by throwing all of them in the same class is poor organisation on their part as the content might be too difficult for students with no basic in that subject area and too easy for those with a relevant degree. Also, there really isn't any difference in the titles such as advance dip, specialist dip, graduate dip. it's just the number of modules you take. Those names are just fancy.
8. They try to pack the whole module into 7-8 lessons which is clearly not sufficient time. In the end, lecturers end up having to speed through all the slides and skip many things, tell you to read up on your own because he/she doesn't have enough time to finish the content. Poor planning again.
All in all, Arium is not worth your time and money. Find a more recognised institution that is for knowledge and not for profit. "
Anynomous
" I don’t think they take their enrollments and enquiries seriously. I have been waiting weeks for them to get back to me. "
08 September 2023Anynomous
" I completed a course there some time ago and it's totally not worth the money. I'm taking time to write this lengthy review because I want to give anyone who's interested in studying there an honest review. Not everyone who has studied there will agree with me but this is what I feel.
21 October 20231. Some lecturers are clearly not qualified to teach a certain module because it is not part of their specialisation of their degree. One lecturer actually revealed that he just read a textbook prior to teaching some module which he had no idea on. Is this even ethical? That being said, some lecturers are very experienced and knowledgeable in their field but i would say that's only 2 out of 5.
2. I'm really not sure how useful and recognised the diplomas you earned there are in your job search and further study. Instead of spending 7-8k of your hard earned money on a dubious piece of diploma, I would strongly recommend prospective students who are keen on studying sth related to early childhood, special needs, education etc to go to more recognised institutions like NGEE ANN POLY. They have diplomas for these subjects area and diplomas from Ngee Ann are actually what employers want as stated in many job advertisements I have come across.
3. Assignment questions are not very well set, to be honest. The questions are literally cut and paste from the textbooks and if I do a search on the pdf of the textbook, I can find highly similar sentences in the text and just find the answers. It reflects the amount of effort lecturers put in to setting assignment questions. Furthermore, many questions in the assignments are REPEATED in the exam. This makes the exam pointless because it's not testing your understanding, it's testing your memory. Again, it reflects badly on the lecturers. Essay questions are not very well set as well as the scope is narrow and it's more like a structured question.
4. They charge you $200 for a certificate if you want to get it and it takes many months to print. Why $200? It is stated in the contract so if you don't agree with it, you can't study there.
5. The "practicum" which they advertised are also not very friendly for working adults who have a full time day job as they rarely accept applicants who can't make it in the day.
6. They seem to sell textbooks to students at a marked up price. Initially I didn't know so I bought the textbooks from them but when I went online to check, I could have got a new textbook at a cheaper price. Since they bought it in bulk, not sure why it's still so expensive ($120). Anyway, don't buy textbooks from them, you can get it on carousell or second hand bookshops at a cheaper price.
7. The modules are poorly planned and organised. Diploma students, advanced diploma, specialist diploma and graduate diploma students ALL take the same class. Shouldn't there be different classes to cater to different starting points? Clearly diploma students do not have as much understanding in a certain area compared to a graduate diploma student and by throwing all of them in the same class is poor organisation on their part as the content might be too difficult for students with no basic in that subject area and too easy for those with a relevant degree. Also, there really isn't any difference in the titles such as advance dip, specialist dip, graduate dip. it's just the number of modules you take. Those names are just fancy.
8. They try to pack the whole module into 7-8 lessons which is clearly not sufficient time. In the end, lecturers end up having to speed through all the slides and skip many things, tell you to read up on your own because he/she doesn't have enough time to finish the content. Poor planning again.
All in all, Arium is not worth your time and money. Find a more recognised institution that is for knowledge and not for profit. "