The newly-listed company has its eye on Bangladesh but is considering other countries too.

MASTERSKILL (M) Education Group Bhd, Southeast Asia's largest nursing and healthcare college operator, plans to invest up to RM5 million within the next year in a franchise venture to be rolled out across the Indian subcontinent.

The newly-listed company has its eye on Bangladesh but is considering other countries too.

Masterskill chief operating officer Datuk Seri Edmund Santhara said there is vast potential beyond Malaysia to look and tap into.

"Bangladesh is a good example where there are many science graduates, but the level of unemployment is rather high among them. What Masterskill can do is to retrain them under our accredited educational programme and send them to seek employment in the Middle East," said Santhara.

"We are still looking into this as it is important to have a consistent level of teaching and to have the same examination board to mark and assess students' performance," Santhara added.

He was speaking to reporters after a ceremony where Masterskill received its ISO9001:2998 accreditation. The ceremony was officiated at by Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.

The company is also seeking to increase the number of foreign students studying in its five campuses in Malaysia and is keen on exploring the option of targeting Chinese students, in particular, Muslim Chinese.

"We are extremely focused on this group of people because we feel they will integrate well within our education programmed of allied health and of course, China is a big market to tap into," Santhara said.

Currently, 10 per cent of its 17,000 students in its five campuses are foreigners and it aims to increase it to 40 per cent within the next five years together with its campus expansion.

Masterskill has a 22 per cent market share in the nursing and allied health education industry in the country, offering diploma and degree programmes.

The company is also setting up a new campus in Seri Alam, Johor this year, which will offer Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery courses.

It is also in the process of securing an undisclosed site within the Klang Valley in the next two weeks.

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