Brainy Bunch Expands Pre-School Business To Indonesia

By Azeman Ariffin JAKARTA, Aug 8 (Bernama) -- Brainy Bunch Sdn Bhd, an Islamic Montessori pre-school operator, has expanded its business to Indonesia with the establishment of a Brainy Bunch Islamic Preschool in Jakarta. Chief Executive Officer Mohamad Fadzil Hashim said the pioneer campus in Indonesia is located at Tebet Raya in south Jakarta province and began operations on July 17. He said Brainy Bunch Malaysia is planning to invest US$10 million (US$1 = RM4.04) over the next five years for its campus expansion plans in Indonesia. The company also inked a Master Franchise Agreement with PT Brainy Bunch Indonesia during the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) in Jakarta recently. "The agreement with PT Brainy Bunch Indonesia gives it the right to establish Brainy Bunch Islamic Preschools in the country. "Indonesia had over 28 million children aged between 0-6 years as of the recent count. "This number is rapidly growing and we believe the expansion in Indonesia will give the children there, access to a premium education system which adopts Montessori as it's pedagogy, Islam as its way of life and guidance, and English at the core of its curriculum," Mohamad Fadzil said in a statement here Monday. He also said Brainy Bunch was targeting to have 100,000 students within the next decade, while creating thousands of job opportunities in Indonesia. "Last May, Brainy Bunch also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Universitas Islam Indonesia on the training of preschool teachers and supply of teachers to support the Brainy Bunch expansion plan in Indonesia," he added. Brainy Bunch started in 2010 with a first batch of 70 students in Kajang, Malaysia's Selangor state, and at present operates 72 campuses in Malaysia, two in Singapore, one each in China and Indonesia. This is alongside a charity school in Gaza, Palestine, with a student population of over 5,000, alongside 600 teachers and staff. --BERNAMA