TMC Education Group

THE promise of a unique educational experience lured 18-year-old Jane Quek to enrol in the TMC Education Group(TMC).

She chose the Diploma in Business course, which is awarded by the Monash College in Australia.

The full-time student said: 'Experiencing a different system of learning is exciting.'

The diploma is a two-part course, each lasting eight months, aimed at giving students a head start in their university education.

O-level holders are admitted to the first part of the course.

Students with A-level qualifications gain direct admission to the second part of the course, equivalent to the first year of an undergraduate degree.

Graduates from the diploma course are then directly admitted to some of the undergraduate programmes offered by Australia's Monash University.

Jane, a former Gan Eng Seng School student, started classes at TMC after getting her O-level results last February.

She expects to graduate from the diploma course in June . She said: 'The assignments are challenging, but that's good as we learn a good deal from the research we do.'

The interactive lessons also help drive home the concepts shared in class.

Jane said: 'We're able to relate what we learn in class very quickly to what's happening in the world.

'Take economics, for instance. We can see how market forces take its toll on the global economy.'

She noted that students have to do well for each module, which 'takes a good amount of effort and determination'.

'But it's good training as it prepares us for the next step that we have to take, which is entering university,' she added.

Most diploma holders go on to join their peers in the second year of their respective programmes at Monash University.

Jane's parents were supportive when they learnt that she intended to pursue business.

She said: 'It's a bonus that TMC has helped me become more independent. I think I'm now better able to manage my time.'

Jane hopes to qualify for a place to study either Finance or Marketing at Monash's campus in Melbourne.

'I'm looking forward to the opportunity to become more independent and to make loads of new friends,' she said.

This article was first published in The New Paper on January 12, 2009.