Smart School
THE Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology (APIIT) launched its private primary and secondary smart school in January 2006. Located near the former Subang airport, the school commenced with classes for Primary 1-5 and Secondary 1 and 2.
Dr Parmjit Singh, Managing Director explained: `The APIIT Smart School project was focused on the provision of quality education to students at school level. We believe it is critical in today’s environment that our children are provided with a holistic and comprehensive education.
`This means that students must not only have exposure to the Malaysian National Schools’ Curriculum, but must also be provided with a platform for public speaking, swimming, a wide range of sporting activities, music, languages and self-defence.’
The APIIT Smart School provides a different environment of teaching and learning and has an established relationship with the Midlands Leadership Centre (MLC) and its partners in the United Kingdom to achieve this.
`This is a critical component in the education process. It is imperative not only that the teachers are trained to provide a structured and systematic approach to learning with the correct initiatives and incentives available to the students, but in order for a school to be run well, its senior administrators must also be trained to adopt the best practices in school administration.
`Rather than re-invent the wheel, the APIIT Smart School has entered into a relationship with the MLC in order to ensure that the students at the school are exposed to education of an international standard. The focus in this regard is to ensure that the teaching- learning pedagogy adopted at the school is one that encourages learning at all levels. We believe that it is critical that the teachers are effectively trained to work interactively with students as part of the learning process,’ he says.
Dr Parmjit adds: `In addition, the MLC focuses on the development of the school administrators and has an extensive training programme to ensure that the administrators at the school are provided with a comprehensive understanding of what it takes to run the school effectively. This includes liaising with parents and teachers, working directly with each student as an individual and ensuring that the general administration of the school is conducted in a professional and people-friendly manner.’
On MLC’s degree of involvement, Dr Parmjit says: `Sir Geoff Hampton, Director of the MLC, is directly involved in this project. He has been instrumental in ensuring that our partnership with them will benefit the school and its students.’
The APIIT Smart School conducts the Malaysian National Schools’ Curriculum and also provides students with exposure to a range of activities, within school hours and as part of the school fee. These activities include swimming; taekwondo; music, Mandarin, Speech and Drama and Technology.
Built on 10 acres of pristine land in Subang, the multipurpose complex contains a half Olympic sized swimming pool, a range of IT labs and facilities, small air-conditioned classrooms and laboratories all installed with the latest LCD projectors and wi- fi. Colourful and vibrant, the facilities emphasise that it is a young and energetic environment that encourages learning, exploration and discovery.
The process of enrolling students for the school for the January 2007 session has already commenced with regular previews being conducted. These previews see parents from other private schools, government schools and parents with children in kindergarten in attendance to find out more about the school.
For more information on APIIT Smart School or to speak to counsellors, call 03-7847 1000
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