The decision of choosing a School to attend for your Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana (ICA-G) Professional Qualification Examination preparation is critical. Why is this important?
Because the Institution where you choose will affect how you study, prepare for the examination and ultimately pass the examination.
My Millionaire Mentor Dan Lok said and I quote “Who you learn from is more important than what you learn”. The ” WHO” represents both the Institution as well as the Lecturers.
Many a times, you make this decision based on factors such as the nearness to your residence, how much it cost and whether you know someone who attends that school.
However, you need to understand that even though the above factors are good indicators when making such decisions, you have to understand that that’s not what will give you the results you are looking for.
At the end of the day, you are there because you want to write your exams, pass excellently and become a Chartered Accountant as soon as humanly possible thereby avoid taking some papers twice or more times.
If the ultimate objective is to become a Business Leader as soon as possible which is also my goal, then you need to look beyond nearness to your residence, how much it cost or whether someone you know attends that school. Why I am saying this? Does that mean you have to ignore these factors when making this decision?
No, that’s not what I am saying. You shouldn’t totally ignore these factors. However, you have to understand that there are three major differences between the successful and unsuccessful, the rich and the poor & and those who make it and those who don’t.
These differences are:
- The rich/successful people don’t consider COMFORT, they want RESULTS while the poor/unsuccessful consider comfort and not results. This is why successful people go the EXTRA MILE as compared to the poor who remain in their comfort zone.
- The rich/successful don’t look at COST/PRICE tags, they consider ROI (Return On Investment) while the unsuccessful people are always concern about how much it cost. You cannot become successful living “broke”. You need to understand and always ask yourself, ” What is the benefit or return for this money I am spending? “. Once you begin to ask this question, then you will shift your mindset from LIMITED to ABUNDANCE.
- The rich/successful people take advice from EXPERTS and are WILLING to pay whatever it cost to achieve results while the poor/unsuccessful take advice from friends & family members who are just like them and are not willing to spend to acquire the best. You cannot become successful taking advice and surrounding yourself with people at your level or just like you. You must REACH UP above you and find out who can take you HIGHER and more importantly FASTER!!!
So, this is my question to you now, “WHO DO YOU SEE YOURSELF TO BE?” WHICH PART OF THE SPECTRUM OF THESE THREE DIFFERENCES DO YOU SEE YOURSELF AT? ARE YOU HAVING THE MINDSET OF THE RICH/SUCCESSFUL OR POOR/UNSUCCESSFUL?
Pause a moment my friend and THINK CONSCIOUSLY about these questions.
Wait……… Can you see the reason (s) why you are where you are and why your life is the way it is today? Yes, you are who you are NOW because of the way you think about these questions.
Maybe you are wondering and asking ……… “What does all these got to do with choosing a Tuition Centre?”.
It has everything to do with it. If you will be honest to yourself, you will realise that unconsciously you have been literally “running” your life like this. If you can change your mindset, then you will understand the Five Factors I am about to share with you.
I want you to approach life and every decision you make in life by paraphrasing and using these factors I will share with you because these are what the rich and successful people consider when they are making every single decision. And if you want to become successful, you have to begin and live your life as one.
So now you are saying……”Alright Nhyira, I am ready now!!! Share with me these factors because I want to transform my life, become successful as soon as humanly possible legitimately and I want to know how to make it happen for me”
Now that I have your permission and you are in the right framework to receive, let’s go into the FIVE FACTORS to consider when making Tuition Provider decision.
However, before I go ahead let me WARN you; NEVER STUDY ON YOUR OWN because that’s a disastrous decision and will make your journey longer, stressful and most importantly wastage of resources (time, money, relationship & pleasures).
Ready?…………
Let’s do this:
- Institution:
This is always the starting point. In deciding the Institution, you need to look at a couple of things and answer some basic questions.
So, the big question is, what should you look for when choosing the Institution?
Among other things, the Institution has to be Accredited and Licensed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana, have a faculty of Qualified Lecturers, their track record and have some presence online.
In addressing the issue of online presence, you need ask yourself certain questions like the following:
What’s their website? Do they have lecture videos on Facebook? Does the school provide any value upfront that you can benefit from prior to enrolling?
These questions should be answered honestly and guide you when choosing the Institution. As I mentioned earlier, don’t choose a school just because it’s closer to your residence or because it’s the cheapest. Consider more significant factors taking into consideration the fact that you want to PASS the Examination and become a Business Leader and avoid wastage of resources.
- The Lecturers:
The Lecturers are the “OIL” that run the Institution and get you to where you want to be. Remember my earlier quote from my Millionaire Mentor Dan Lok?
“Who you learn from is more important than what you learn”.
I always recommend you have an experience with the Lecturer(s) going to teach the subject (s) you intend to study. You must see them in action doing what they claim they are good at. Why is this important?
This is so important because, I have met hundreds of students who say this “…..I registered to attend lectures but the Lecturer (s) is not ” good”…. When you ask a question, the reply isn’t the answer I expected….. ”
I know you have heard that experience before because I have had that several times before reaching where I am today.
So, what do you look for when “auditing” the Lecturers?
Among other things, I think you have to look at the following:
- What’s their qualification and Lecturing experience in that subject (s)?
- What’s their track record in the field?
- Do they have PUBLISHED book (s) on the subject they are teaching?
- Do they have blog for business leaders or students?
- Are they having a YouTube channel with valuable lecture videos?
- Can you find them anywhere online doing what they claim to be doing?
- Are they part time or full-time lecturers?
- What Techniques are they using to Teach?
All of these and many others should be your ultimate concern because remember again what I said earlier. The rich/successful people expect RESULTS and seek for the BEST in the industry because they don’t want to waste the most expensive and precious commodity on earth called TIME.
Don’t be blindfolded my friend. You must have an experience with the so-called lecturers of the Institution even before you enroll. Sometimes you can find recommendations, customers/student reviews, what you have heard about them, among others.
Remember, WHO YOU LEARN FROM IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHAT YOU LEARN!!!!!
- FLEXIBILITY:
This is another critical factor you don’t want to overlook when choosing an institution. Flexibility has to do with how lectures are structured to suit every individual.
I know you will ask, “Nhyira, how can they structure lectures to suit everyone?”
The answer is YES, they can and they should. You will agree with me that there were times you missed lectures maybe because you were sick, traveled, busy in the office, among others. The question is, what happened to you when you returned?
Did you get access to the lectures either through videos pre – recorded or assistance from the Lecturers or institution for those periods you missed?
I can guarantee you didn’t get anything like that (or maybe you did once). Maybe the Institution or Lecturers didn’t even know you missed a class because of the class size and you relied on your own efforts and assistance of colleagues who couldn’t even explain to you lessons you missed in a manner you could understand.
This is my question, why should you pay money and not get access to lectures and lecturers to assist you? Why do you have to be worried and full of anxiety when exam is approaching because you missed lectures?
This is why we do it different here at Premium Education Hub. All On – Campus students are directly enrolled for FREE on our Study Portal. This means, you can study everywhere, anytime and not worry about what will be taught in class because all lectures are hosted on the study portal.
This what I mean by FLEXIBILITY. Where you have time to do what you are passionate about and at the same time, have access to the best lectures and Lecturers who will assist you One – On – One on the journey.
You can check out our Online Courses HERE
This is very important because definitely something will happen to prevent you from attending lectures regularly. Things beyond your wildest imagination and control. That’s why flexibility is a significant factor necessary to be considered when making your decision.
- VALUE:
In making this very important decision, you need to consider the VALUE. Now, I didn’t say price/cost; instead I said VALUE.
You have to ask yourself this question: Is this WORTH IT? What VALUE will this add to me? How can this assist me in becoming a Chartered Accountant?
The answer to this question is what is called by the rich and highly successful as Return On Investment (ROI) and Return On Time Invested (ROTI).
When attending lectures, it is not about HOW MUCH you are paying or spending rather it’s the VALUE you are getting from the Institution, Lecturers and how Lessons at structured.
Let me illustrate value to you as it’s done here at Premium Education Hub:
Let’s say you are writing a paper in level two. The cost is GHS 400 per paper.
This includes the following:
- On – Campus Lectures (which is what you are paying for)
- Direct enrollment on Our Study Portal (Which is GHS 450 per paper)
- Access to eBooks by lecturers as well as examination kits from various sources especially from ACCA-UK (which cost GHS 100 on average)
- Dedicated Lecturer to assist you with questions anytime either on Campus or Online via Skype (which cost GHS 40 per thirty minutes)
- Access to Examination Analysis Document (which provides you Key) (this is absolutely PRICELESS)
So, what does this mean? It means you are paying GHS 400 to get services valued over GHS 1000.
Do you understand now what VALUE means to the highly successful people in the world? So, when you hear cost per paper is GHS 400 and you say “Hey, that’s expensive”, that means you don’t know the value you are getting. And after you look at the other benefits you are getting from that, you will now say ” YES, it’s really WORTH IT”.
So, the next time you ask for the fees from an institution, don’t say it’s cheap or expensive. Instead, ask yourself “What VALUE I’m I getting?” and “Is it WORTH the price?”
- LOCATION:
My friend, the last and final factor worth considering is the Location.
When we talk about location, there are a couple of questions you need to ask and consciously answer them to better assist you plan your schedules for the year.
Some of these questions include the following:
- Where is the Tuition Centre Located?
- What’s the environment like?
- What’s the security especially at night?
- How safe is the location?
- How long will it take on average to get there for lectures from home/office and return?
- What’s the traffic conditions in that area?
Remember, don’t choose a class because it is closer to you or because your friend attends lectures there. Be conscious of your life and make decisions by giving it great thoughts.
This year will certainly be great and full of surprises. You need to position yourself strategically to optimize your time and the money you spend on everything.
If you can consider these FIVE (5) incredible factors before making your next decision, I can guarantee you will become successful and achieve your dreams with less stress, anxiety and most importantly avoid wastage of your resources.
Your Friend, Nhyira Premium
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