Alive Community Education Centre

1. Which organization is running this course?

This programme, duly registered with Ministry of Education, is run by Alive Community Education Centre (Alive Centre). Alive Community Education Centre is the educational arm of Alive Community Network, a voluntary welfare organization which is a full member of the National Council of Social Services (NCSS).

Venue: Alive Community Network Training room #02-12, No. 291 New Bridge Road, Oriental Plaza (opposite Pearl’s centre, 5 mins walk from Outram MRT)

Time: Every week either on Saturday mornings from 930am to 1230pm or weekday nights from 7pm to 10pm.
Course fees: $550 per module, payable in 3 monthly installments.
Note: Staff & volunteers from NCSS Member VWOs are eligible for 50% Pre-approved Training Grant for both diploma programmes. Church staff and leaders involved in counselling can apply for special subsidies up to 40% from Alive Community Network.

Contact details:

2. What is the difference between the Diploma and Advanced Diploma programmes?

The Diploma in Counselling involves completing 4 modules while the Advanced Diploma requires 9 modules (including a practicum). The Diploma is meant for those who are interested in understanding issues in counselling but do not intend to take up the professional demands of a trained counselor. The Advanced diploma is to help prepare those who are interested in working either professionally or voluntarily as a trained counselling professional.

3. Are your programmes recognized?

Both the Diploma and Advanced Diploma in Counselling are registered with the Ministry of Education. In addition, our Advanced Diploma is an approved training for those who want to become members of the Australian Counselling Association (ACA). ACA is an association of over 2500 professional counselors which has international standing and accredits counselling training programmes. Eligibility for membership to a professional counselling body is the usual criteria to qualify as a trained counselor.

4. Can I register for the courses without taking any exams?

You may register this course as an audit student. However, you will not be awarded a diploma. The cost of each module for audit student is $150.

5. Can I take this course without completing all the modules?

Yes you may as you’ll receive a certificate of successful completion for every module. Do note that you are not eligible to apply for membership to the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) unless you complete the prescribed programme.

6. Can I obtain discounts for these courses?

Our course fees are very reasonable and are rather low in consideration of the quality. However, if there is a genuine difficulty in finances despite strong interest in the course, please contact our facilitator to discuss possible funding options or installment payment schemes.

7. Upon completion of the Advanced Diploma programme, can I use apply for another degree programme i.e. a Masters or Degree etc.?

Firstly, such entry requirements are dependent on the respective university that offers the Master’s degree that you intend to enroll. There are several Master’s programmes in UK and Australia that allow Advanced Diploma courses that are approved training programmes of the Australian or British Counselling Association to gain direct entry or exemptions into their programmes.We have ensured that the rigors of our programme in terms of its course content and course requirements, together with the qualification of the instructors are of a good standard to meet these requirements for exemptions.

8. Can I enroll in your programmes if I do not hold a first degree?

The Singapore Association of Counsellors (SAC) expects those who want to register with them to hold a basic degree in addition to a postgraduate qualification in counselling. Both the British and Australian Counselling Associations do not have such requirements. In our programmes, we teach the courses at a graduate level, i.e. there is the expectation that students have a prior first degree. We welcome your application to our programmes even if you do not have a first degree as long as you recognise that the course assignments are set at a graduate level. You will be eligible to qualify for membership with the ACA without a first degree. We are also exploring options to continue our Advanced Diploma to a three year programme for students who do not have a first degree but who are interested in enrolling into some Australian universities’ Master’s programme.

9. Who are the instructors of the Counselling programmes?

We select experienced instructors in counseling with adequate qualifications and ample teaching experience. These trainers have excellent academic and practical backgrounds. All our instructors have at least a Master’s degree in a relevant helping professional field and qualify for clinical membership in a recognized counselling association.

10. What is the size of each class?

We try to keep our class to small groups of 15 to 18 students. When classes are larger, we will have additional tutorial sessions with the instructors/tutors to ensure that you will get maximum instructor attention.

11. What if I cannot attend every class?

It will be ideal that you try to make it for every class. However, we will ensure that there will be a video-recording of each class which you can purchase at a nominal fee. This will help you to stay abreast of class material in case you cannot attend a particular lesson.

12. How difficult are the assignments? Will they require lots of study time?

All courses have a mixture of assignments. These include testing your memory of materials learnt, your ability to apply the materials to actual counselling scenarios and activities to develop your own personal awareness. We use a mixture of short quizzes, essay exams & papers, presentations of role plays through video-recordings and journaling.

Assignments do take time and effort though we believe that it will be rewarding for you. Moreover, our facilitators are glad to help you through any difficulties you encounter in these assignments. As for study time, we hope that with discipline & planning, you will be able to manage your time for this programme.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 4th, 2006 at 11:56 am and is filed under Counseling Program. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.