By NNN-Bernama,
Kuala Lumpur : One of India’s leading education groups, the Vinayaka Missions University, is keen to invest RM100 million to set up an engineering, technical and management branch campus in Iskandar Malaysia.
By 2015, the VMU group has earmarked RM220 million to be invested in various education-based projects as part of its expansion plans in Malaysia.
“The concept of educity or Iskandar’s education-hub ambitions appeals to us and VMU is keen to be part of this development, said VMU Pro-Chancellor, Dr. S Sharavanan.
VMU which currently manages 21 colleges and universities in India, Canada, USA, Thailand and in Penang in Malaysia, sees great opportunity in attracting students, not just from Malaysia but also from the region, he said in a statement here Sunday.
“A major advantage that Iskandar Malaysia offers is location, logistics and world class infrastructure. Foreign students will also enjoy the lower cost of getting quality education at the branch campus which can cater for up to 8,000 students,” Dr. Sharavanan.
Dr. Sharavanan, who is also managing director and CEO of the Penang International Dental College (PIDC) which is operated by VMU, expressed confidence that Iskandar Malaysia has the required incentives to attract more local and foreign investments.
“We at VMU view Malaysia as a strategic location to invest especially with the government’s push towards creating an education hub in the region. We certainly have ambitious plans in Malaysia,” he said.
He said RM55 million has been set aside for PIDC and RM25 million for the Surya College, an allied health sciences college scheduled to open early next year in Butterworth.
“Another RM40 million has been set aside to be invested in education related ventures in Penang up to 2015. We will announce the details in due time,” he said.
The proposed branch campus in Iskandar Malaysia will widen access to affordable education, extend VMU’s global footprint and help meet the university’s mission to spread education globally in the field of medicine, dental, paramedical, homeopathy, engineering, management and basic science using existing resources and technology.
“We have started initial discussions with representatives from Iskandar and our intention is to establish the branch campus as soon as possible. If everything goes well, we could see this materialize within the next three years”, said Dr. Sharavanan.
VMU, established in 1981 has been granted the prestigious “Deemed University” status by the Indian Ministry of Human Resources and Development in recognition of its continued thrust to achieve excellence in education.
Nearly 20,000 students are presently studying in its various colleges and universities in the full time mode, and 75,000 students are enrolled in the distance education mode and every year, about 5,000 graduates pass out from its campuses.