More can be done to promote education-themed developments.
Malaysian and foreign students make up the student pool in Malaysia today.
TAKE a peek into many educational establishments across Malaysia and one would find a high population of both local and foreign students pursuing their chosen fields of studies in various parts of the country.
Malaysia is safe, has many options for education and is relatively cheaper compared to other countries, yet providing quality education and experience like those in other leading countries around the world.
Property is also a key factor for some parents choosing Malaysia as an educational destination. The depreciating ringgit is attracting many parents based locally as well as abroad to invest here, to house their children during the education period. Parents can use these student accommodation as a means of generating additional income once their children have completed their education.
Aside from foreigners and locals, expatriates living in Malaysia also influence the growth of the education sector in Malaysia. Malaysia currently faces a growth in student population due to multinational companies placing their headquarters here including Nestle, Ikea, Tesco, Dell, Intel as well as Hewlett-Packard.
These expatriates would usually opt to place their children in international schools due to the syllabus that is covered, for example British, American, Australian and the International Baccalaureate syllabus.
There are several parts in Malaysia offering world-class education for primary, secondary and tertiary, thanks to the increase in the number of international schools as well as higher educational institutions that have grown in numbers and are placed in locations easily accessible by the masses.
It is clear that education helps abundantly in the growth of areas such as Bandar Sunway that is home to a number of prestigious education institutions.
They include Sunway University College, Monash University Malaysia, Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus, Taylors College Subang Jaya Campus as well as INTI International College Subang.
These institutions are popular among students from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the Maldives and Africa, just to name a few. While pre-university courses are extremely popular, some common university-level courses here include culinary arts, communication and media management, architecture, interior design and psychology.
Students looking to rent property in this area will have many options to choose from as Bandar Sunway is a well-integrated township that is able to meet the needs of the students. For students looking to stay close to the educational institutions, there are many student apartments that are well connected to the other parts of Bandar Sunway via public transport as well as pedestrian walkways.
There are also other accommodation options that are available in Bandar Sunway that are connected to many establishments such as Sunway Pyramid Mall and popular educational institutions, including Sunway University College, Monash University Malaysia and Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus.
Another excellent example of education driving growth of a city is Cyberjaya, that has gained popularity by being an educational hub particularly for private tertiary institutions. Multimedia University was introduced as one of the "starter projects" for Cyberjaya in the Government's effort to produce more ICT graduates to meet the demand of the MNC companies as well as other IT companies within the smart township. Since Multimedia University, Cyberjaya has attracted many other institutions to set up campuses there.
Foreign companies set up in Cyberjaya require work force supplied via Malaysian ICT graduates, instantly providing job opportunities.
According to Setia Haruman Sdn Bhd executive director Lao Chok Keang, Cyberjaya is home to Multimedia University, the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Cyberjaya University College for Medical Science, University IslamMalaysia and Kirkby International College.
He says the other institutions of higher learning near Cyberjaya include the Harriot Watt University and University Malaysia of Computer Science and Engineering in Putrajaya.
It is also home to the ELC International School, Seri Puteri Girls School as well as primary and secondary government schools to meet the needs of Cyberjaya’s growing residential population.
“Additionally, staff working in Cyberjaya can turn to the Knowledge Workers Development Centre (KDC) by Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) where on-going training as well as certification program are conducted.
“Cyberjaya currently holds a large population of students totaling up to 23,000 students in the various institutions,” says Lao.
More are in store for Cyberjaya. A Chinese school called Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan China Union is currently being developed here to better serve the Chinese community in Cyberjaya as well as in Putrajaya, while a local university has bought a piece of land campus there.
There is news of a Korean International School being built on the fringes of Cyberjaya due to open in 2016 and UiTM Denkil Campus set for operation in 2016.
Matrix GlobalSchools offers national, international as well as pre-school education.
According to Matrix Concepts Group Sdn Bhd executive director Datuk Lim Kiu Hock, many townships in Malaysia have grown successfully in the past due to the presence of education institutions. One of the earliest areas to have transformed due to education include Subang Jaya where one of the first international school first kicked off with Sri Kuala Lumpur School in the 1990s.
“Over in Seri Kembangan one would have noticed in its early years, when the area was still underdeveloped, that the Alice Smith School was a huge pull factor for people buying into the area.”
Matrix Concepts hopes to replicate the success of successful edu-city destinations by providing a township that is centered on an exclusive first-of-a-kind educational offering in Seremban, dubbed Bandar Sri Sendayan.
The “star” of this township is the Matrix Global Schools providing international and national education as well as pre-school education based on the Cambridge International Certificate of General Secondary Education (ICGSE).
Nilai is known for its array of educational offerings, including Nilai University, Nilai International School, Inti International University Nilai, Global Institute of Studies and Nilai International College. It is clear that with its wide arrays of education products, Nilai is meeting the needs for primary, secondary and tertiary education. How does Matrix Global Schools differ?
Matrix Global Schools offer holistic education that meets experiential learning.
Matrix Global Schools CEO Felix E.B. Lee says, “Our concept of learning here at Matrix Global Schools is unique, proving that education can in fact be intertwined with learning as the school employs a balance of in-class as well as outdoor learning, bringing about a whole new experiential learning curve for students assisted by modern technology as well as state-of-the-art facilities.”
The Cambridge Curriculum has been infused into the syllabus of students studying the national school syllabus at Matrix Private School just in case the students may later choose to sit for the core papers of ICGSE. The transition will then be a lot easier.
Lee says Matrix Global Schools also facilitates the mastering of Mandarin via the schools' collaboration with Kongzi Institute, University Malaya, instantly recognizing as well as authorizing the Seremban campus as the Test Centre for the Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban) in Beijing to conduct the International Chinese Proficiency Test carried out by teachers serving at the school from Beijing, China.
