VAS opens 7th campus in north of Ho Chi Minh City

The VAS campus was carefully designed to foster students’ physical as well as mental development

Go Vap district is a gateway for transport connections, accommodating business and trade in the city. Accounting for 20 per cent of the total population of Ho Chi Minh City, the district’s population of nearly two million makes it a huge potential consumer market.

In September 2015, Vietnam-Australia International School (VAS) acknowledged the potential here by building its 7th campus in the centre of Go Vap. Located in the residential project City Land Garden Hills, this facility has the most modern construction within the VAS system.

On May 25, the campus welcomed 2,000 students to get a taste for the ultra-modern educational project Garden Hills Mega Campus. Enrollment for kindergarten to high school students for the school year 2016-2017 will begin in July 2016.

With a total area of 14,480 square metres, including nearly 4,500sq.m of lush green spaces, the Garden Hills Mega Campus was designed by architect Nguyen Dinh Gioi of Nha Dan Interior Design Company. The campus is built according to green architectural trends, with green areas and outdoor spaces making up 60 per cent of the total area. The campus has 80 classrooms which are equipped with modern facilities. In addition, there are several specific-function rooms such as computer rooms, laboratories, a library, kitchens, music/art rooms, as well as a gym. VAS also has two swimming pools, a children’s playground, an inter-level playground, a soccer field, a basketball court, as well as a theatre-style multi-purpose hall. Combined, these facilities will foster the comprehensive development of students – both physically and intellectually.

With the rapid development of Vietnam’s economy through the signing of regional and international trade agreements, educational experts say that one of the main challenges for educational programmes in Vietnam is enabling students to gain access to the global knowledge, skills, and values that form the educational grounding of a global citizen. In this way, VAS has drawn the attention of parents by teaching the seven core values of Excellence, Confidence, Passion, Integrity, Respect, Teamwork, and National Pride. A special feature of these seven core values is the National Pride component, whereby students are encouraged to become more confident in their personal development, and become more harmonised with the global environment.

As director of the Garden Hills Mega Campus, David McLaughlin will be in charge of the management and supervision of all teaching and learning activities. He has 35 years’ experience working as a lecturer at universities in the UK, the US, and Canada. Additionally, he was a senior leader in several school systems in the UK, Dubai, and most recently Kenya.

Marcel van Miert, VAS’ executive chairman, said that “The construction of a VAS campus in Go Vap will meet the needs of the growing number of students hoping to attend the international education programme of Cambridge alongside the national education programme. The team of excellent teachers, managers, and staff in this ultra-modern campus will contribute to the quality of teaching and training in Ho Chi Minh City. I believe this campus will provide an optimal choice for parents and students within the area, with a more comfortable learning environment, international-standard programmes and reasonable fees.”