MDIS holds groundbreaking ceremony for new campus in Iskandar

Sited in Malaysia's new education hub, Educity, in the Iskandar region, the $116 million campus will be the private school's largest overseas campus at 12ha. This is five times larger than its Singapore campus at Stirling Road.

Get the full story from The Straits Times.

Here is the press release in full:

JOHOR BAHRU  - At the pull of a gear, Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister, YAB Tan Sri Dato' Hj. Muhyiddin bin Hj. Mohd Yassin, activated a tractor to drive the first bore pile into the ground at the ground-breaking ceremony for the sprawling RM300 million (S$116.65m) MDIS Malaysia Campus in EduCity@Iskandar, Johor this morning.

The ceremony was witnessed by the Menteri Besar of Johor, YAB Dato' Seri Mohamed Khaled bin Nordin, together with Dr Eric Kuan and Dr R Theyvendran, President and Secretary-General of MDIS respectively, and about 500 dignitaries and guests from Singapore and Malaysia.

The 30-acre freehold site in EduCity@Iskandar, Malaysia will be MDIS' second overseas campus - its first at Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan in Central Asia, built in 2008 at the cost of US$20 million (S$25.5m).

The new MDIS Malaysia campus will be five times bigger than the MDIS Campus in Singapore and will have some of the most advanced equipment and facilities, including two student hostel blocks built initially to house 1,400 students in 2015 when the first phase of construction is completed.

EduCity@Iskandar is a major flagship development in the Iskandar Growth Region in Johor, covering about 305 acres including an International Students' Village.

EduCity@Iskandar will provide student accommodation, a 12,000-seat Stadium and Sports Complex, and a Multi-Varsity Enterprise Complex for shared usage by the institutions of higher learning.

MDIS Secretary-General, Dr R Theyvendran, PBM, added, "MDIS Malaysia represents another major step in MDIS' overall strategy to expand our global footprint.

"EduCity@Iskandar is an important component of Malaysia's aim to be the sixth largest education exporting country by 2020 with 200,000 international students studying here. This offers great potential for us and we are delighted to play a part in the pursuit of Malaysia's educational goal. Indeed, MDIS Malaysia is a prime example of how intraregional investments can be encouraged, and how both countries - Singapore and Malaysia - can develop competitive strengths jointly."

New Campus: Local Touch, Global Reach

The MDIS Malaysia campus will be 100 per cent owned by MDIS Malaysia Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of MDIS International Pte Ltd, Singapore. The entire investment in the new campus will be funded internally. The operating company for MDIS Malaysia is 51 per cent owned by MDIS and 49 per cent is owned by Malaysia partners, of which, 30 per cent is held by a bumiputra partner.

MDIS Malaysia will accommodate 10,000 students when all of its three phases are fully completed in 2023. It intends to enroll 2,000 students when the first phase of the campus is completed by 2015. The number of students will increase to 5,000 when the second phase is completed by 2018.

MDIS Malaysia will initially focus on Malaysian students as one of the key objectives of the campus to bring quality global tertiary education to meet the rising educational aspirations of Malaysian students. The campus will also welcome international students at a later stage.

Students can choose from a wide range of tertiary courses from globally accredited universities from France, UK and USA, such as, the University of Sunderland (UK), University of Wolverhampton (UK), Grenoble Graduate School of Business (France) and Oklahoma City University (USA). Initially, MDIS Malaysia will be offering nine diploma programmes and one certificate in English course.

The courses will be in business management, information technology and digital media, mass communications and tourism and hospitality. All of these courses have already received the Malaysian Qualifications Agency's (MQA) approval and relevant course licences.

Before the campus is completed and operational in 2015, MDIS Malaysia will begin lessons on September 30, 2013 at its City Campus in Johor Bahru City Square, which can cater to up to 1,000 students.

Launch of MDIS Malaysia Achievers Scholarship worth a total of RM1.2 million

For a start, to demonstrate its commitment to enhance the educational landscape in Malaysia, MDIS Malaysia will launch a special scholarship called "MDIS Malaysia Achievers Scholarship" for Malaysian students. MDIS Malaysia will offer up to 150 merit scholarships totalling RM1.2 million.

The merit scholarships, worth RM8,000 each, will be granted to Malaysian students pursuing diploma courses at the City Campus. They will be chosen based on their academic results of the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) or the Malaysian Certificate of Education and Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) exams.

Green MDIS Malaysia To Reap Eco Benefits

The Iskandar campus will boast state of the art facilities and amenities with eco-friendly and disability-friendly features. It will have filming, radio and audio studios, editing room, a hospitality training centre, computer laboratories, prayer rooms, two canteens catering to halal and non-halal menus separately, food and beverage outlets, 600-seater auditorium, a multi-purpose hall as well as sports and recreation facilities - Gym/Fitness Centre, Badminton, Table Tennis, Basketball Court, Jogging Track Football/Cricket Field, Tennis and Sepak Takraw Court.

In line with MDIS' global "Green Campus" philosophy, the integrated campus will be fitted with solar panels, rainwater collection tanks and green walls to reap up to 10 per cent of energy and water savings annually.