BY SARBAN SINGH
THE Matrix Global Schools (MGS) to be officially launched by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on Tuesday has been modelled after the 130-year-old Ellesmere College, a prestigious British residential school.
MGS, which comprises the Matrix International Pre-School, Matrix International School and Matrix Private School, opened its doors last September in Bandar Sri Sendayan near Seremban and already has an enrolment of 426 students.
Matrix Concepts Holdings Bhd (MCHB) chairman Datuk Mohamad Haslah Mohamad Amin said the MGS campus had full-fledged facilities equivalent to most universities including auditoriums, lecture theatres, music rooms, recording studios and a performing arts centre.
“Although we have an international and a private school, we shall always adhere to our ethos of one campus, one vision and one mission.
“With the East meets West and West meets East approach, we want to create a seamless brand of education between the schools,” he said.
MCHB-owned MGS, which cost RM145mil to build and sits on a 8ha piece of land, has a capacity to enrol up to 2,500 students.
The Matrix International School offers the IGCSE University of Cambridge O and A Levels programmes while the Matrix Private School will follow the national KSSR and KSSM curriculum.
Mohamad Haslah said MGS was also unique as its methodology offered a holistic approach to learning and one which empowered creativity and critical thinking while enhancing leadership skills and character.
“We have created a seamless brand of education where our national school is also the international school and vice versa,” he said, adding that almost all the teaching staff at the international school were expatriates.
Apart from having a block of 428 hostel apartments, MGS also has a multipurpose hall with a 1,000 seating capacity, indoor badminton courts, a sports complex, stadium as well as other features for outdoor games and activities such as rugby, football, wall climbing and kayaking.
Mohamad Haslah expressed confidence that the MGS would have a full enrolment by 2020.
“In fact, we are confident that we will have at least 1,000 students by the end of next year,” he said.
The target in the next five years is to have 1,000 students enrolled in the international school and 1,500 in its national private school.
He said despite having top facilities and teaching staff for a conducive teaching and learning process, MGS was also a better option as its fee structure was cheaper than that offered by others.
“Compared to international schools in Kuala Lumpur, for example, we offer double the facilities at half the price,” he said.
Haslah said to mark its official opening, MGS would also launch the Earth Pyramid Incubation Centre (EPIC), a global project for the advancement of education.
EPIC is now spearheaded by MGS and has the support of authorities from 20 nations.
The aim of the Earth Pyramid project is among others, to help educate and give people a chance to connect on a global scale.
“It is also to enable students to interact with their peers or anyone anywhere and to constructively discuss any global issue, allow a greater understanding of their cultures and to tackle challenges together,” he said.
Mohamad Haslah said an Earth Pyramid monument would be built near MGS and would become a tourist attraction upon its completion.