Property developer Tropicana Corporation Bhd (Tropicana) has entered into a conditional agreement with Tenby Educare Sdn Bhd, the operator of Tenby Schools, to develop a 10-acre international school campus.
The school will be built within the heart of Tropicana’s upcoming 863 acres of self-contained mixed township development called Tropicana Aman at Kota Kemuning in Selangor.
Under the agreement, Tropicana will undertake the construction of the school campus with a built-up area of approximately 225,000 sq ft that can accommodate up to 1,800 local and international students.
Tenby International School at Tropicana Aman is expected to host its first intake of students in September 2018, offering international student-oriented programs for students aged from 3 to 18 years old, including International Primary Curriculum, National Curriculum for England, IGCSEs and A-Level programs.
The collaboration between Tropicana and Tenby Schools is expected to benefit the local community and help nurture the growing community within Tropicana Aman, Kota Kemuning and Shah Alam by providing access to quality international education at affordable fees.
Other townships in the vicinity of Tropicana Aman such as Bandar Rimbayu (by IJM Land) and EcoSanctuary (by Eco World) are expected to help drive future enrolment for the school.
With an establishment history of more than 60 years, Tenby Schools will operate this school as its eighth international school campus.
It started as an expatriate kindergarten in Ipoh, and evolved into an international school, Tenby International School. It then expanded to include a private Malaysian school Sekolah Tenby, or Tenby School in English.
Tenby Schools currently operate five existing international and private school campuses located in Ipoh; Penang; Setia Eco Park in Shah Alam; Miri in Sarawak; and Setia Eco Gardens in Johor Bahru. Two more schools are under construction in Rawang and Setia EcoHill in Semenyih.
Tenby Schools is renowned for its excellence in ensuring an international teaching standards for both its local and international curriculum.
It is committed to enhancing the learning environment in all their schools by providing innovative learning tools and state-of-the-art technology for all students.
Back in March 2015, Tenby Schools became part of Ilmu Education Group Berhad (ILMU), which is the education arm of government-linked private equity firm Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas).
Ekuinas’ education arm ILMU owned the APIIT Education Group, consisting of Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation (APU), Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology (APIIT), Asia Pacific Smart School, Asia Pacific International School and APIIT Sri Lanka.
Besides APIIT, Ekuinas is also the majority shareholder of UNITAR International University and Cosmopoint Group, which owns Kuala Lumpur Metropolitan University College and Cosmopoint International College of Technology. It also owns stakes in Brickfields Asia College and SEG International Berhad through Navis Capital.
ILMU itself has become one of the largest private education groups in Malaysia with more than 30,000 students.
This Tenby venture marks Tropicana’s third venture into the education sector. In August last year, Tropicana entered into a strategic partnership with St. Joseph’s Institution International to build an international school in Tropicana Golf & Country Resort, Petaling Jaya.
In January this year, the developer entered into an agreement to build an international school with GEMS Education in Tropicana Metropark, Subang Jaya.
Located next to affluent neighbourhood of Kota Kemuning, Tropicana Aman is Tropicana’s latest development, as well as its first foray into Kota Kemuning. The self-contained mixed township development will offer neighbourhood commercial, gated community enclaves and guarded residential components.
Tropicana Aman offers accessibility, connectivity, generous open spaces, security and quality. It boasts a 85-acre central park rich in flora and fauna, which will be criss-crossed with wandering ribbons of water and traversed by a 7km-long greenery trail for walking, jogging and cycling.
The township will also house a central residents’ clubhouse with a sports centre and is connected to major highways such as Lebuhraya Shah Alam (Kesas), the Federal Highway, Lebuhraya Kemuning Shah Alam (LKSA), Expressway Lingkaran Tengah (ELITE), South Klang Valley Expressway (SKVE) and the upcoming West Coast Expressway (WCE).
The first phase of “gateless” double-storey link terrace house within a clubhouse-cum-gated community at Tropicana Aman was previewed on 30 April 2015 with an overwhelming response.