Welcome to GNS School of Business & Technology

Complaint Handling Procedure
Our school treats all comments by our students, particularly the complaints, very seriously. It is our objective to firstly encourage the prompt and informal resolution of grievances of students and secondly to provide an orderly procedures for the satisfactory resolutions of complaints. The complain will be handled in an impartial and speedy manner.

A grievance must be filed in writing, email or fax to the Human Resource Manager within one month from the date of the grievous act. Alternatively, the said grievance may also be conveyed to the Human Resource Manager via a phone call or a visit to the Customer Service Officer. This time limit may be extended upon good cause shown. The complainant will be given an interim reply within 7 working days of receipt of a written grievance and the grievance shall be resolved within 21 working days. Please see below for more detail timeline.

On disputes, it is the school’s policy is to try to reach a fair and amicable solution (that is, a solution is found to address the grievance that is fair and acceptable to both parties, the student and the school).

The aggrieved party, the student, must submit the grievance in writing to the school.

Principal will assign the relevant manager to establish the facts of the case and complete the necessary investigation within 7 working days.

The manager will decide whether the complaint/grievance is justified, and if so, offer a solution to the student.

If the student accepts the solution, no further action will be pursued except to record and file the grievance and solution.

If the student declines the solution, the grievance will be referred to the Principal who will review the case and offer a second solution. All these proceedings would be completed within 14 days and complainants are kept informed of the status.

If the student still refuses to accept the second solution and before the maximum of 21 days, the school will propose that the matter be resolved through the Dispute Resolution Scheme of the Council for Private Education. (http://www.cpe.gov.sg/cos/o.x?c=/cpe/pagetree&func=view&rid=351)

This procedure has been put in place to facilitate resolution of grievances with a minimum of delay and formality. The grievance may relate to both academic, administrative and support services amongst others

Students who have not passed their modules may submit an appeal for review of results using FRM-009Results Appeal Form through the Counter Staff giving their reasons. This appeal must be submitted within 1 week of the release of exam results, together with payment of the required fee. The Counter Staff passes the Appeal Form to the Acad Mgr, who obtains the response from the teacher/marker on the merit of the appeal. She then submits the appeals with the teacher’s response to the Exam Board for decision.

The Acad Mgr communicates the decisions of the Exam Board on the Admin Mgr, who updates the records and informs students of the outcome of their appeal.

GNS School works within the following timelines for processing and release of the final exam results and appeal results.

Release of final exam results – within 4 weeks after completion of the final paper of the examination

Release of appeal results – within 4 weeks from the official date of release of the exam results (or 3 weeks from the close of the appeal period)

GNS School returns the exam scripts to students after 4 weeks or more from the official date of release of the exam results.

A student whose appeal is unsuccessful may apply to GNS School to take a re-test with payment of a re-test fee. This application must be submitted within 1 week of the release of the appeal results. If the student fails the re-test, he must either repeat the module or take a new module in order to accumulate the required number of passed modules for graduation.

A student who chooses not to appeal may apply to GNS School to take a re-test, with payment of a re-test fee, within 1 week of the release of the exam results.

Notification and Arrangement: PEI shall inform the Student immediately within three (3) working days if:
(i) It fails, for any reason, to commence the Course on the Course Commencement Date;
(ii) It terminates the Course, for any reason, prior to the Course Commencement Date;
(iii) It fails, for any reason, to complete the Course by the Course Completion Date;
(iv) It terminates the Course, for any reason, prior to Course Completion Date; or
(v) The Student’s Pass application is rejected by Immigration and Checkpoint Authority (ICA).
The PEI shall, within seven (7) working days of notifying the Student in writing of above circumstances (i) to (iv), provide the Student with information and details of the alternative confirmed course arrangement to allow the Student to make timely and appropriate decision on the alternative arrangement.

Withdrawal for Cause: Subject to Clause 9, the Student shall be entitled to immediately withdraw from the Course by giving written notice to the PEI of his/her intention to do so if the PEI is in breach of any of its obligations under this Agreement or fails to perform its obligation(s) under the circumstances in Clause 2.1 (i) to (iv).

For circumstances under Clause 2.1, the PEI shall, within seven (7) working days after notifying the Student, refund to the Student:
(i) The entire amount of the Course Fees; and
(ii) The Miscellaneous Fees*.

The PEI shall also, as soon as practicable after receiving the Student’s notice of withdrawal under Clause 2.2 (and in any event no later than seven (7) working days after receiving such notice) refund to the Student the amounts stated in this Clause 2.3

Withdrawal Without Cause and Refunds: Where the Student withdraws from the Course for any reason other than those set out in Clause 2.2 or Clause 9, the PEI shall, subject to Clause 3.5, as soon as practicable after receiving the Student’s written notice of withdrawal (and in any event no more than seven (7) working days after receiving such notice) refund to the Student the following sums (less any applicable bank administrative charges properly paid/payable under Clause 3):: Student’s written notice of withdrawal (and in any event no more than fourteen (14) working days after receiving such notice) refund to the Student the entire amount (100%) of the Deposit (less all such deductions which the PEI is entitled to make in accordance with Standard Student Contract) together with the following sums (less any applicable bank administrative charges properly paid/payable under Clause 3 in the Standard Student Contract):
(i) 100 % of the aggregate amount of the Course Fees and Additional Fees paid under Clause 1.6 and 1.9 in the Standard Student Contract, if Student’s written notice of withdrawal is received more than [14] days before the Commencement Date. (ii) 50% of the aggregate amount of the Course Fees and Additional Fees paid under Clause 1.6 and 1.9 in the Standard Student Contract, if Student’s written notice of withdrawal is received before, but not more than [14] days before the Commencement Date. (iii) 0% of the aggregate amount of the Course Fees and Additiona Fees paid under Clause 1.6 and 1.9 in the Standard Student Contract. if Student’s written notice of withdrawal is received after the Commencement Date

Please fill in the Withdrawal Request Form and submit the same to your Customer Service Officer.

Deemed Withdrawal (Transfer): A Student who transfers from the Course to another course with the PEI shall be deemed to have withdrawn from the Course and the provisions of Clause Withdrawal for Cause shall apply save as otherwise agreed between the PEI and the Student.

Please also note that transferring to another institution is deemed as a withdrawal from GNS School. As such, for international students who transfer to another institution, their International Student’s Pass will be cancelled. These students will have to submit their Passport and International Student’s Pass within 3 working days of the transfer. Attendance record and other relevant documentation to facilitate the transfer will be provided upon request.

Refunds (if any) will be processed within 7 working days of receipt of original fully completed hardcopy Withdrawal Request Form with relevant supporting documentary proof. Forms that are received after 12 noon would be considered as submission on the next working day.

Please fill in the Withdrawal Request Form and submit the same to your Customer Service Officer.

Refund Procedure (Applicable to non corporate clients only)

The school’s refund procedure covers the following commonly occurring situations:

The procedure for student initiated refund (due to Student’s withdrawal / change of mind during 7 day cooling period, etc) is as follows:

The procedure for a school initiated refund (due to the school not performing / ICA not approving the student pass, etc) is as follows:

The school’s refund procedure is described in its website and student handbook

Please fill in the Withdrawal Request Form and submit the same to your Customer Service Officer.

The school’s procedure for withdrawal/transfer to another school is as follows:

When the student gives written notice of his intention to withdraw using FRM-022 Withdrawal Request Form, the counter staff hands the completed request form to Marketing Manager or one of the Education Consultants (if appointed by the school), who will talk to the student to find out why he wants to withdraw.

If student does not change his intention, the to Marketing Manager or one of the Education Consultants (if appointed by the school) will inform Principal, who will interview the student to understand his situation and to administer the end course survey (if necessary)
Principal then passes the case to the Admin Mgr with instructions, if any, for processing.

The Admin Mgr, working with the other managers, attends to the various withdrawal matters including

Where a student has withdrawn without informing the school through any written request (signed hardcopy withdrawal form or the student’s email request), the school will treat this as an absence-for-an-extended-period case. After a continuous 7-day absence from class, the student name will be reported to ICA, the student pass cancelled, and the FPS provider informed.

The school’s procedure for transfer to another course within the school is as follows:

When the student gives written notice of his intention to transfer course using FRM-023 Transfer Request Form, the counter staff gives the completed request form to one of the to Marketing Manager or one of the Education Consultants (if appointed by the school). the to Marketing Manager or one of the Education Consultants (if appointed by the school)will check that the student satisfies the Entry Requirements/Pre-requisite of the requested course, discuss with student the reasons for his wanting to transfer, and explain to the student the implications for his student pass, etc. The school must cancel the current student pass and apply for a new student pass for the new course. Students should not hold the school liable should the student’s pass application not be approved by the Singapore ICA.The school inform the student that a new application and registration fee is payable upon submission of the form and the fee is non-refundable and inform the student that he can be charged for all modules consumed. If the student maintains his intention to transfer to the new course after the discussion, the to Marketing Manager or one of the Education Consultants (if appointed by the school) then passes the case to the Admin Manager for further processing. Admin Manager attends to or oversees the various transfer matters including issuance of a letter to student effecting the transfer cancellation of the existing student pass and application for a new pass termination of the existing contract and signing of the new contract informing the FPS provider transferring the student’s account to the new course (refund amt in accordance with refund policy, etc).

Local students will be notified of the outcome within 7 working days from the receipt of the transfer request. International students will be notified of the outcome of student’s pass application within 4 to 6 weeks from the receipt of the transfer request (this may vary and depends on ICA processing period).

Skills Development Fund (SDF) under Workforce Development Agency (WDA) Not applicable to CPE permitted courses.

The general eligibility criteria are listed as follows:
‧ Training is fully sponsored by company
‧ Organization must register with SDF/SRP
‧ Trainees are employees who are either Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents (PR) of Singapore
‧ Trainees must complete the full course whilst remain in the employment of the same organization
‧ Trainees have achieved at least 75% attendance and have sat for all examinations if the course leads to certification
‧ Training is to be conducted during work hours
Skills Redevelopment Program (SRP) under National Trades Union Congress (NTUC)
A national funding initiative program providing attractive incentives on course fees, absentee payroll and wage support, funded by the WDA and managed by NTUC.

To register with the SRP, please logon to www.srp.org.sg. Select Company>>Click on Registration and submit details accordingly.

As this program is a SRP pre-approved programme, the funding rate is:
‧ 80% of Staff hourly basic wage or capped at $6/training hr, whichever is lower (for those under 40 yrs old and with highest education level at least A-Level) OR
‧ 90% of Staff hourly basic wage or capped at $6.80/training hr, whichever is lower (for those above 40 yrs old and highest education level A-Level and below)
‧ To submit application to SRP online at least 1 day before program commences.

All fees are payable in Singapore Dollars. Please make all payment by cash, cheque, demand draft or cashier order made payable to “ GNS School of Business and Technology”.

Manager, Directors, Academic Board, Examination Board

Name of Centre Manager: Dr Sim Loo Lee, Ms Mary Ann Cheong

Name of Directors: Mr. Woo Leih Shyang, Ms Mary Ann Cheong

Academic Board: Dr Sim Loo Lee, Ms. Mary Ann Cheong, Mr. Woo Leih Shyang

Examination Board: Dr Sim Loo Lee, Ms. Mary Ann Cheong, Mr. Woo Leih Shyang