KUALA LUMPUR: The Gains Education Group Sdn Bhd (GAINS) will collaborate with Atmosphere Project WLL from Qatar to launch the Malaysia-Qatar International School, next year.
The educational group, known for its existing subsidiaries namely Genius Aulad, Idrissi International School and Sekolah Tinta is seeking to be the first Malaysian company to establish and fully manage an international school in Qatar from Southeast Asia.
The Malaysia-Qatar International School will utilise the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) syllabus and British curriculum, combined with the Malaysia-Asian value-based education syllabus.
GAINS founder and executive director Zaliza Alias said the school aims to educate students to the highest international standards while giving focus on respectable Malaysian-Asian cultures and values.
"Malaysians are known for our values and cultures, our generosity and kindness towards one another, and this is what we aim to embed in all our schools.
"These values are heavily emphasised in our existing schools, as we believe that value-based education is not a subject that we can teach via textbooks, but to show the students what is kindness and how to practise it in their daily life.
"We make practising these values as part of our school's culture, that requires everybody including teachers and management staff to practise it in schools.
"We see it is of utmost importance to teach the future generation of kindness, togetherness and respect for one another, and this attracted Atmosphere to collaborate with us in the international school and teach these values to the future generation there (in Qatar)," she told the New Straits Times when met at the Setia City Convention Centre.
Zaliza said the Malaysia-Qatar International School, which is set to open its door in September this year will cater to 2,575 students of all nationalities.
"We will employ around 200 teachers, some will be from Malaysia and some will be employed locally.
"However, GAINS will fully manage the school," she said, adding that the school is registered as a private international school under Qatar's Education Ministry.
The Malaysia-Qatar International School will be built over 19,700 sqm, with features such as a football field, Olympic-sized swimming pool, musical theatre hall, library, multi-purpose gym and specialist classes equipped with the latest educational technology.
Zaliza said the educational group is also set to launch its new Idrissi International School campus in Educity Iskandar Puteri, Johor, in September this year.
"Idrissi is also the first Malaysian international school that was invited to be in Educity, where we'd be operating the school and Educity will be managing the lodging (for students).
"The lodgings are built based on a student-village system, where students will get to experience living on a university campus.
"The school syllabus remains the same as any other, however, the lodging is only for secondary school students," she said.
She added that the education group is also in discussions for future educational collaborations in other countries, to establish a chain of premium schools over the next five years, locally and internationally.