AT LEAST 70 prep places could be created next year if plans for a new private primary school in Caroline Springs are approved.
A year after Mowbray College imploded with debts of $28 million, self-made millionaire and Wyndham councillor Intaj Khan has applied to the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority to open West Melbourne Grammar at the campus, which he bought last year for $6.7 million.
“Our conservative estimate at this stage is places for 70 children, but there will be no cap on that figure,” he said.
“All the infrastructure is there. It just needs tables and chairs.
‘‘It would create 10 jobs initially. There’s a lot of excitement.’’
Mr Khan, chief executive of the Western Institute of Technology, told the Weekly he had already received interest from 11 families keen to send their children to a multicultural school not dominated by one religion.
While he acknowledged parents had expressed a desire for a new secondary school at the former Mowbray site, he wanted to start conservatively with a prep class in 2014 expanding to a prep-grade 6 school by 2020.
“Starting with a secondary school could jeopardise our business plan – there’s no guarantee we would receive the enrolments,” he said.
“Starting from prep, the expenses are less and the community can embrace the culture.”
The school’s proposed motto is noli desistere discere, which Mr Khan says is Latin for “never stop learning”.
Mr Khan’s son Wildan, 3, will be the first student enrolled.
“If you’re going to make sandwiches, you have to eat one before you give them to other people,” he said.
Mr Khan said West Melbourne Grammar would be funded by a trust run by a board of experts including himself, an accountant and a former professor from Victoria University.
He said lessons had been learnt from the mistakes of Mowbray, which collapsed in June last year, leaving about 1200 students and 200 staff without a school.
Mr Khan said Mowbray grew too quickly, expanding to campuses in Caroline Springs and Melton before it was financially viable.
“We want to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” he said.
Mr Khan said he expected a decision on his application within two to three months.
As reported by the Weekly, the Melton campus was bought by Heathdale Christian College and will open next year.
– With The Age
West Melbourne Grammar expressions of interest: email wmgs.2013@gmail.com
