“It can be difficult to make arrangements because there is no Singapore embassy in Uzbekistan,” said Uzbek Ambassador to Singapore, Mr Alisher Kurmanov. “So, I think while there is awareness of the Singapore brand of education, the numbers here are small.”

But come October, Uzbek students will no longer need to travel far to experience Singapore education as local private education provider Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) will open its doors in Tashkent (picture).

And its first overseas campus — set up with the Uzbekistan Banking Association with an investment of US$20 million ($27.65 million) — is seeing strong response from the students.

“We have received about 1,000 applicants, even before we started any marketing efforts,” said Dr R Theyvendran, MDIS’ secretary-general. About 800 students will be admitted for the first cohort.

The school — which will offer business and English degree programmes — has also revised its target of attracting 1,200 students in three years to 4,000. All the courses will be conducted in English

While MDIS had previously explored the idea of setting up an overseas outpost in nearby countries like China and Vietnam, the “right partner” had not come along, said Dr Theyvendran.

But with about 37% of its 12,500 students in Singapore coming from overseas, creating a presence abroad has always been a key goal for MDIS.
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Hence, when the Uzbek government began exploring the idea of collaborating with MDIS to set up a campus in Tashkent, the institute was ready to listen.

“Our concerns were that we did not want to risk our reserves, whether the school would attract enough students, and we were also not familiar with the country itself,” said Dr Theyvendran.

“But the government agreed to guarantee our investment, and they put in a US$10 million grant, so financially, it was secure,” he said. “Also, they plan to give out 1,500 scholarships, so the intake is also more assured.”

Uzbekistan, said Dr Theyvendran, would be the springboard to tapping the Central Asia market for MDIS, which currently does not have any students from the region.

More than 60% of Uzbekistan’s 27.7 million citizens are under 30 years old, creating a big potential market for MDIS.

At the same time, Uzbek youth would benefit from having greater diversity in choosing their education, said Mr Kurmanov. “We have partnerships with universities from the UK and Russia, and adding Singapore gives our youth a chance to broaden their learning.”
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In time, he said, more Uzbek students could also find their way here. “I think MDIS will raise Singapore’s profile in Uzbekistan, and this will help to promote greater exchanges between the two countries,” the ambassador said.

Source: TodayOnline.com