AirAsia’s Fernandes banks on private education

by **Cals** Mon 06 Jan 2014, 14:47

Business & Markets 2013

Written by Madiha Fuad of theedgemalaysia.com

Monday, 06 January 2014 10:38

KUALA LUMPUR: Just like his airline, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes is set to shape the landscape of private education through the soon-to-be-launched Epsom College Malaysia.

Hoping to replicate the success of his budget carrier AirAsia Bhd, which has transformed the aviation industry, Fernandes has made his first move to make a mark in the private education sector.

Fernandes, the founder and group CEO of AirAsia and owner of the Queens Park Rangers football team, is a governor of Epsom College and has been appointed chairman of the board of governors of Epsom College in Malaysia.

“Currently, Malaysia’s education system should invest more on software and this is going to take time, but the level of teachers coming in is not high enough [in] quality,” Fernandes told The Edge Financial Daily.

He reasoned that while the school curriculum needs to be looked at again, the ministry of education has to change the perception of teaching as a profession as teachers play a large role in moulding the students.

“We need to attract better teachers into the profession,” he said, remarking that there are various options such as increasing the pay or enhancing the profession to be developed as a career.

Fernandes is of the view that giving public schools independence of sorts is a workable solution to improve the local education system.

“We should give the state schools some independence, give them the ability to raise their own money, hire their own teachers,” he said.

Meanwhile, speaking at a media briefing last Friday, Fernandes said that setting up Epsom College in Malaysia would serve as an opportunity and an advantage for locals who want their children to be educated in a British academic system.

Epsom College Malaysia, a sister school to Epsom College in the UK, will be a co-educational boarding and day school for three- to 18-year old students following the British national curriculum.

“By opening a college providing all the facilities and quality as [those provided in the] the sister school in the UK, parents can now enroll their children in Epsom College Malaysia which is also cheaper than sending them to study abroad,” he said.

“We have handpicked our teachers from the UK. They have the qualifications and experience to deliver UK curriculum at their relevant levels,” he said.

The 50-acre (20.23ha) site located in Bandar Enstek will be open to students in September, and is expected to see the enrolment of local as well as international students.

An estimated RM140 million will be invested in the project, through the joint funding and support of Kuala Lumpur Education City (KLEC) and the Epsom College Malaysia’s network of alumni living and working in Malaysia.

“With a maximum class size of 24 students in the senior school and 16 in pre-school nursery, the school is poised to provide world-class education,” headmaster of Epsom College in Malaysia Martin George said at a media briefing.

George has been in the education industry for the past 19 years. He joined the British Army in 1984. He was previously the headmaster of Durham School and deputy headmaster of The King’s School in Tynemouth.

The college will limit its first year intake to 200 students and is currently holding entry assessments for pupils aged three to 17.

“There are currently about 1,000 students looking at the school and there is a wide variety of international students from South Korea, East Africa, India and Hong Kong,” said George, adding that as the school is located near the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), it would attract overseas students within the region as well as students from the UK.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 06, 2014.