Education conglomerate grows with Asia; sets up first Manila campus

MANILA, Philippines - Filipinos are one of the most sought-after professionals in Asia. Armed with relevant experience and skills, plus the innate diligence and hard work, Filipino workers have reshaped the global labor landscape in recent years.

It is on this premise that RafflesEducationCorp. (REC), the largest private tertiary education group in Asia Pacific, commits to augment and enhance the global competitiveness of Filipino graduates by setting up its very first campus in the Philippines, and by sharing with Filipino students the group’s valuable international expertise and perspective.

REC was established by its chairman and CEO Chew Hua Seng in 1990 in Singapore with Private Education System (PES) as its product. The company went public in 2002, and it now operates 38 colleges in 34 cities across 14 countries that include Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and now, the Philippines.

The establishment of the Philippine campus is part of REC’s recent aggressive expansion. While its PES student population in the Asia Pacific grew by 989 percent from 1,020 in 2002, to 11,108 students in 2010, there are still more untapped territories and growing economies that Raffles intends to explore.

The group also has one university and two vocational and technical colleges under the National Education System (NES) in China. NES colleges provide education courses and skills training programmes that lead to nationally- or internationally-recognized tertiary qualifications. There are currently over 15,000 students studying in the Group’s NES institutions.

REC has seen unprecedented growth with S$90 million in 2006 to S$188 million in 2010. The group also owns the Oriental University City (OUC) in Langlang, Hebei Province, China which stands on a vast 3.31 million square meter self-contained campus; and the Raffles Millennium International brand name encompassing seven colleges and the Raffles Millennium University in India. Just last month, REC signed a joint venture agreement with Education@Iskandar Sdn Bhd (EISB) to set up the RM200 million Raffles University Iskandar (RUI) in EduCity, Iskandar, Malaysia.

Raffles Design Institute, Manila (RDIM) – the flagship design institute of REC is located at the trendy Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. The brand new campus will be rolling out four programmes for a start this July: Two-year, full-time, advanced diploma courses in Fashion Design, Fashion Marketing and Management, Graphic Design, and Interior Design.

Growth in Asia

Asia’s growing affluence and large youthful population has spurred an increasing demand for education, said Chew.

“With our leadership position and enlarged platform across Asia, Raffles is well positioned to benefit from this growth,’’ said Chew who was recently in Manila to visit the new Raffles campus. ”‘’Our key impetus for growth in Asia-Pacific are hedged on our vision to build depth at existing colleges, expand our college network, create value and strengthen our academic credibility.’’

Chew led the REC through its highly successful initial public offering on the Singapore Exchange in 2002. Under his stewardship, REC was also named among the Top 200 Asia-Pacific companies on Forbes Asia’s ‘’Best Under A Billion.’’ Chew has always emphasized that REC’s overarching principle is to provide the invaluable gift of education to needy youths, with a special focus to support poor students in the Asia-Pacific region.

Darion Lim, marketing director of Raffles Design Institute Manila (RDIM), said that with more than 28,000 students who go to Raffles campuses in Asia- Pacific to attend its tertiary programs, the company is seriously carrying out its commitment to provide graduates with hands-on experience to equip them with skills highly relevant to industries.

“Comprehensive skill and knowledge outcomes and employability of students are emphasized in Raffles’ curriculum, as are creative and analytical approaches that encourage individual judgment and self-awareness,’’ Lim said.

The programmes at RDI Manila are designed to equip aspiring designers with the essential technical and business knowledge and skills for the global arena. RDI Manila’s fast-track programme allows high school graduates who enroll at RDI Manila to earn an internationally recognized Bachelor of Design Degree in just three years and students have the flexibility to complete their studies within the Raffles network of colleges in 14 countries.

RDI Manila also boasts of an international academic team comprising of industry practitioners from the United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA) and the Philippines. They are Academic Director Dr. Janet Emmanuel for Fashion Design, Nela San Jose for Fashion Marketing and Management, Buz Walker for Visual Communication, and Lee Miles for Interior Design.

(To know more about Raffles Design Institute Manila and its courses, visit www.raffles-design-institute.com.ph)