i-CATS to take over Inti College campus

0

CHANGING HANDS: Aziz (second left) and Morshidi (second right) look on as Baharuddin (left) and Antonides are about to exchange documents after the signing ceremony.

KUCHING: International College of Advanced Technology Sarawak (i-CATS) will take over the campus of Inti College Sarawak in a deal worth RM22 million, following a shares sale agreement (SSA) signing ceremony yesterday.

This answered speculations over which institution would snap up the soon-to-be vacated 1.4 hectare facilities at Jalan Stampin Timur here, after Inti announced in January that it was to wind down its operations in Sarawak by end of this year due to declining student numbers

The new campus will be named as i-CATS West Campus, and its first intake will be in July next year while the staff will move four months earlier. The present i-CATS operation, on the other hand, will remain at Jalan Canna and will be named as i-CATS East Campus.

Already, both i-CATS and its related institution Sarawak Skills Development Centre (PPKS) are wasting little time in utilising the new facilities, by holding their convocation ceremonies at the Inti College’s auditorium next Tuesday and Wednesday (Dec 3 and 4).

President of i-CATS and chairman of PPKS Tan Sri Datuk Amar Abdul Aziz Husain said the new i-CATS West Campus will accommodate up to 3,000 students, while the i-CATS East Campus will have 1,500 students.

“The first intake (for i-CATS West Campus) will be in July next year, while the staff will be moving in by March. Some of the staff from Inti College Sarawak are in the process of being absorbed by us,” he told reporters after the SSA signing ceremony between PPKS subsidiary PPKS Ilmu Sdn Bhd and Inti Education Sdn Bhd.

The signing ceremony took place at the State Secretary’s office in Wisma Bapa Malaysia and was witnessed by the State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Morshidi Abdul Ghani himself and Aziz.

Meanwhile, the chief executive officer of i-CATS, Dato Baharuddin Abdullah, said the SSA signing demonstrated PPKS Ilmu’s commitment as a technical training and education provider since the existing campus at Jalan Canna, Tabuan Jaya will not be able to accommodate the increasing student population and expansion plan for more training facilities.

“As a start, we at the i-CATS West Campus will be focussing more on business, management, tourism and hospitality courses, and expect to commence business by July 2014 pending regulatory approval from the Ministry of Education.

“This development is in tandem with our efforts to realise our vision of turning i-CATS to university college status in 2017. The establishment of this new campus also sees our institution’s commitment in assisting to train and produce large number of competent workforce either in skill-based or academic background,” he said, adding their vision was to build a competent workforce for the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE).

He also mentioned that i-CATS has trained almost 10,000 graduates in Higher National Diploma, Diploma and Certificate courses since its establishment in 2002.

Inti Education Sdn Bhd’s chief financial officer Roberto Antonides said although they were closing down in Sarawak, the education group was very proud of the legacy they had left behind in the state.

He mentioned over 10,000 people graduated from Inti College Sarawak over the period of two decades, which had impacted the lives of many since it commenced its Sarawak operations in 1991.

“We’re very happy and proud that i-CATS is taking over the physical facilities of our Kuching campus. We are confident that i-CATS, which has an excellent track record, will make very good use of the infrastructure to provide excellent academics and skill-based training to produce a knowledgeable and competent workforce for Sarawak,” he said.

Inti College Sarawak moved into the 1.4 hectare campus, formerly the premises of St Patrick’s School, at Jalan Stampin Timur in December 1992. Once rated as one of the best private educational institutions in Sarawak, the college even attracted foreign students from Indonesia and Africa.

Following the phasing-out, it stopped enrolling new students, while the current students would be transferred to Inti International University in Nilai, Negri Sembilan or Inti colleges in Subang, Penang and Sabah,