Megaworld enters education, sets up school in Cebu township

MANILA, Philippines — Tycoon Andrew Tan is ma-king his foray into the education space, with the opening of his first school venture in the Visayas region.

Megaworld Corp. is set to open this coming school year the Newtown School of Excellence inside the company’s Mactan Newtown township in Cebu.

The school, developed with the assistance of the De La Salle Brothers through the Lasallian Schools Supervision Services Association, Inc. (LASSSAI), is located on an almost a hectare campus near the entrance of the township, along the Mactan Circumferential Road.

Newtown will initially offer classes for the primary school this school year.

Megaworld Cebu Properties Inc. president Noli Hernandez said the school would primarily cater to the children of the township homeowners, particularly those who live in condominium developments.

“We will also cater to the children of the expat community and residents of Lapu-Lapu City and nearby towns and cities as well as the children of those working in nearby businesses and business process outsourcing (BPO) companies,” Hernandez said.

Megaworld poured in P240 million for the project which will have two main buildings.

These are the single-story kindergarten building, composed of three classrooms, a library, playground and a multipurpose hall; and the five-storey elementary building.

The latter will have 21 classrooms, audio-visual rooms, computer rooms, music room, home economics room, prayer room, library and learning resource center, auditorium, covered court, physical education instructional room, science laboratories, clinic and its own canteen.

The school is strategically located near the heritage sites of the Mactan Shrine and Lapu-Lapu Shrine as well as popular hotels and resorts such as Movenpick and Shangri-La Mactan.

Being inside The Mactan Newtown, the school will also have access to its own beachfront, allowing the institution to conveniently utilize the beach facilities for school activities, Hernandez said.

“With the improvement of the quality of life of the future generation as its primary goal, this school will provide an exceptional educational program through the reputable brand of LASSSAI,” he said.

As one of Megaworld’s premier township developments outside of Metro Manila, the Mactan Newtown is currently being developed into a vibrant mixed-use community comprised of residential condominiums, office towers, hotels, mall and commercial centers and its own beach club and beachfront facilities.