Listen to the HotCopper podcast for in-depth discussions and insights on all the biggest headlines from throughout the week. On Spotify, Apple, and more.

The 36-point questionnaire was sent in mid-March to researchers whose projects – across a range of disciplines, including the medical and physical sciences, foreign aid, and defence – involve collaboration with U.S. scholars and institutions.

Several topics broached in the document refer to Donald Trump’s broad policy of pushing back against what he refers to as ‘woke ideology’ – as manifested in his executive orders recognising only two genders, and banning programs and grants connected to DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion).

To wit, the questionnaire asked whether the target research related to DEI, if it complied with Trump’s two-gender policy, and whether its participants were receiving funding from Russia, Cuba, China, or Iran.

While scholars were often asked to explain their research, especially in connection with funding, this new line of questioning hasn’t been broached before – and certainly not in this way, University of Sydney international relations expert Dr Stuart Rollo told HotCopper after the questionnaire was sent out.

“The questionnaire is totally unprecedented, as far as I am aware,” he explained.

“As part of the process of applying for grants from American government [and other] institutions, applicants will often be asked to describe how their project advances gender equity, principles of environmental sustainability, and things of that nature.”

“But,” he continued, “I have never seen a retroactive questionnaire with such directly politicised conditions applied broadly across institutions.”

While funding was sometimes restricted for projects involving partners from countries like China, Iran, or Russia, Mr Rollo explained, this questionnaire’s direct reference was quite unusual. “Nothing of such a sweeping and immediate nature” has been seen before.

Given the United States is Australia’s biggest research partner – with our universities receiving $400 million in funding from the U.S. government in 2024 – it is important that we figure out where the Trump administration is going with this, and how Australian institutions should position themselves.

While the President’s culture war rhetoric is not new, nor unexpected, Dr Rollo says it’s important to remember much of the sentiment underpinning it was supported by people both in the States and Australia.

“The reality is many regular people in Australia and the States do see universities and other ‘elite’ institutions as embodying a sort of vanguard progressive politics that they feel is out of step with the values of society more broadly,” he said.

“The Trump administration is using this sentiment to push a much more radical policy.”

More market news

Never-ending: And just like that, Trump’s tariffs are back causing more market chaos

Meet GeoGeorge: The HotCopper poster so accurate he got hired as an analyst

The starting point of all this, he added, was the belief – among Trump and loyalists such as Steve Bannon and Elon Musk – that universities, media, and the public service are parts of a “permanent bureaucracy” (or “deep state”) influencing how societies develop, outside of simple electoral politics.

“DOGE, cuts to foreign aid, countering ‘woke’ education etcetera is not simply about prosecuting a conservative vs progressive culture war it is about the executive branch of the US government waging all-out war on a range of other institutions of power in our society that tend to balance executive power out,” Dr Rollo said.

He added: “This extends to the judiciary and many other fields as well.”

The questionnaire also says something about how Trump and his gov’t are planning to interact with the rest of the world and its institutions: A tendency on display during his tumultuous meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and in the administration’s proposal to secure critical minerals in that country.

“The Trump coalition has a radical view for the future of the United States and the structure of the global order,” Dr Rollo said.

“It’s about moving away from a complex system of institutions and alliances that operate under American leadership – sometimes seen as the ‘American Empire’ a.k.a. the ‘rules-based order’) towards a system of exploitative hegemony, where the U.S. relies much more on military strength, coercion, and other ‘sticks’ rather than ‘carrots’ to ensure the compliance of weaker states and secure as much of the global economic pie for itself as possible.”

When it came to initiatives such as this strange new questionnaire – and the potential threat to research funding which it represents – Dr Rollo said it was unlikely to benefit the United States in the long term.

“As far as funding to Australian institutions goes, the Trump administration seems to have a very unsophisticated understanding of American soft power,” he said.

‘They are doing a great deal of damage in a very short time to a set of arrangements that, whether you agree with them in terms of cultural values, serve to promote American national interests and influence here and elsewhere around the world.”

Depending on the discipline, there were swathes of academic research that would likely be impacted by Trump’s approach. “It is likely to reshape research in the social and political sciences a fair bit, perhaps public health too, but not a great deal in the hard sciences, computing etcetera,” Dr Rollo added.

Join the discussion: See what’s trending right now on Australia’s largest stock forum and be part of the conversations that move the markets.

The material provided in this article is for information only and should not be treated as investment advice. Viewers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a certified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. For full disclaimer information, please click here.

Listen to the HotCopper podcast for in-depth discussions and insights on all the biggest headlines from throughout the week. On Spotify, Apple, and more.

This follows a market update on February 27 where Site admitted it was unable to reach an agreement with ASIC over an earlier inquiry that sought to assess how many fees it would owe the regulator for existing disputes.

Regarding that, the company wrote: “As noted, the ACCC submission proposed penalties are of a multiple greater than 10 times higher than the expectation previously provided for in the accounts of the Company being $1.1 million.”

The company did at one time provide educational services covering both white collar and blue collar subjects.

Its website continues to advertise online training modules for underground mining.

The company called in administrators on Thursday; private SV Partners are joint overseers.

“Business operations and financial affairs” are now being assessed as Site tries to find a way forward, but the company also provided shareholders a link to an ASIC webpage on what to do when a company goes insolvent.

Notably, there was no reassuring commentary.

Perhaps one doesn’t need it.

The stock’s one-year losses are down -66%, and that takes us to a price of one tenth of a share. Quite literally, it can’t get lower.

More market news

Pushing in: Ukraine’s minerals are in Trump’s sights. What does this really mean?

Tough trim: Why rate cuts are bad news for the Australian economy

Reinstated to quotation just in late February, the company’s shares were suspended once again earlier this week after it didn’t file any financials – putting it in a basket alongside Star Entertainment, Tigers Realm, Yowie Group and BPH Global.

And while its shares are worth a tenth of a cent, it’s got nearly 3.3B on issue. Yikes.

SIT last traded at 0.1cps.

Join the discussion: See what HotCopper users are saying about Site Group and be part of the conversations that move the markets.

The material provided in this article is for information only and should not be treated as investment advice. Viewers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a certified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. For full disclaimer information, please click here.

Under this new agreement, the company announced it would continue to provide the technology, support and maintenance services needed to deliver NAPLAN Online across the nation.

“NAPLAN Online is a critical tool for measuring the educational progress of Australian students and we are proud to continue to play a role in its delivery,” Janison CEO David Caspari said.

NAPLAN Online is a computer-based assessment that measures the literacy and numeracy skills of Australian students in years three, five, seven, and nine, nationally. More than one million students use the platform annually, which was developed by ESA, Janison and Microsoft.

“This is also an important milestone in Janison’s history, signing our largest agreement which demonstrates the trust ESA has placed in Janison to deliver high-quality educational technology solutions,” Mr Caspari added.

It also builds on the recent expansion of Janison’s partnership with Cambridge University Press & Assessment (CUPA) to deliver digital assessment products globally.

Janison was up 13.33 per cent and trading at 42.5 cents at 3:43 pm AEST.

The commission’s 5-Year Productivity Inquiry Report was sent to the Federal Government in February this year, highlighting the need for a “highly skilled” and adaptable workforce to drive industry growth.

“Australia’s economy has changed; almost 90 per cent of Australians now work in service industries, including education, health, hospitality, retail and finance,” Productivity Commission Chair Michael Brennan said.

“It has traditionally been difficult to lift productivity in these sectors. But we are not alone. Economies around the world are grappling with the same issues,” he said.

“There is no easy answer, but we need to address this challenge to secure Australia’s future prosperity.”

A series of recommendations has been put forward by the commission that concentrates on five key themes.

“These are: building an adaptable workforce; harnessing data, digital technology and diffusion; creating a more dynamic and competitive economy; efficiently delivering government services; and securing net zero emissions at least cost,” Mr Brennan said.

The commission is asking for better education throughout high school as well as tertiary education in universities to keep in line with the growing services economy.

“Innovation can help businesses and governments deliver better services or operate more efficiently,” Mr Brennan said.

“The uptake of digital technologies — accelerated to some extent during the pandemic — holds significant promise for lifting business productivity.

“The potential of data sharing remains relatively untapped and increased utilisation will facilitate innovation that lowers costs while improving the quality of service delivery for consumers.”

Not only would the innovation of better education services fulfil the needs of Australia’s service economy, but it would also help to drive the transition to net zero emissions.

“Australia is decarbonising, and while this effort is not without its economic ramifications, it is our contribution to global efforts to reduce the costs of unmitigated climate change. It will be important to provide the right price incentives to get to net-zero at least cost,” Mr Brennan said.

Over the past 35 years, the expansion of employment in the services sector has been mainly in government-subsidised and regulated services, like health care and social assistance.

Mr Brennan said that goals remained focused on improving quality rather than reducing costs, but it was crucial to pursue productivity improvements in these areas.

With this acquisition, Mayfield has increased its total license capacity in the region to 417 places.

Mayfield paid $1.07 million for the acquisition, funded by existing debt facilities, and the new centre is expected to generate $214,000 in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) over 2023.

Mayfield now operates 36 centres across Queensland, Victoria, and South Australia, and the company said it was committed to acquiring high-performing centres in regions that complemented its existing footprint and enabled further growth and operational efficiency.

The fresh acquisition comes after Mayfield rejected a takeover offer from Genius Education Holdings on January 20.

Genius had a number of exclusivity conditions that MFD did not believe were appropriate.

MFD shares closed 0.43 per cent lower at $1.17 on Wednesday afternoon.

The global education services company entered a binding agreement with Intake to help more students access international education.

Established in 1993, Intake has operations in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Philippines, Thailand, India, Taiwan and the UK.

The education advisory company connects students with education opportunities in English-speaking countries.

IDP Interim CEO Murray Walton said Intake’s geographic footprint complemented IDP’s global network.

“Intake is the market leader for UK study in several countries and has the largest and most respected agency in West Africa, which will accelerate IDP’s growth ambitions in this emerging region,” Mr Walton said.

Intake Education’s CEO, Pieter Funnekotter, said joining IDP would make it a stronger company.

“By Intake joining IDP’s team, we will help grow the international education sector and create a new standard for how we support students to achieve their global goals.”

IDP said it expected the agreement will be finalised in November and would fund the acquisition through a mix of existing cash and debt.

Company shares ended the day 2.32 per cent in the green to close at $28.27 each.

These appointments were designed to deliver a sharper focus on the execution of key business initiatives and facilitate the push towards cashflow breakeven and profitability.

Mark Rohald has been appointed Executive Deputy Chairman where he will concentrate on innovation, mergers and acquisitions, and support the new CEOs.

He is a Co-Founder of the company and prior to this new appointment he was appointed CEO in September 2020 and joined the Cluey board in July 2017.

Matteo Trinca has been appointed CEO after joining Cluey in July 2018 as Chief Customer Officer.

He was 17 years of experience in customer intelligence and strategic marketing in the gaming and education sectors.

The other CEO is Trevor McDougall who was a co-founding executive of Cluey and was appointed Chief Operating Officer in August 2017.

He has more than 12 years of experience in senior leadership roles, previously working as Chief Operating Officer at Open Colleges and Think Education.

Mr McDougall has experience across the entertainment, supply chain. operations and education industries, having worked at the likes of Sony and IDP.

Mr Trinca will primarily be responsible for customer, growth and customer operations while Mr McDougall will primarily be responsible for product, technology and education services.

“We are delighted to welcome Mark to his new role of Executive Deputy Chairman, whereCluey will continue to benefit from his passion, energy and experience,” Chairman Robert Gavshon said.

“We are also delighted to promote Matteo and Trevor, two high-performing Cluey executives, to the new role of joint CEOs.

“Their responsibilities have been clearly defined in Cluey’s organisation structure andwe are confident in their ability and experience to complement each other and lead thecompany through the next phase of its growth.”

Further, Michael Allara will be leaving his role as Chief Product Officer.

Cluey has ended the day 1.04 per cent in the red to close at 47.5 cents.

The company entered a trading halt on February 18 but did not disclose how much it intended to raise or what it would use the funds for once received.

The funds were raised through the issue of around 166 million fully-paid ordinary shares to participants at 1.25 cents.

This price represents a 16 per cent discount to KneoMedia’s five-day volume-weighted average price.

Subject to shareholder approval, the participants will receive one free attaching option for every two placement shares, exercisable at 2.5 cents with expiry on December 31, 2023.

KneoMedia will use the money to underpin the anticipated deployment of new sales contracts in the United States, primarily in New York.

The company will keep the market updated as new sales are secured and developments are made.

“We are delighted with the support we have received for this placement from new and existing investors that recognise the potential for our technology in the United States where we are making solid inroads,” CEO James Kellett said.

“We are particularly encouraged by the opportunities available to us and the ‘Connect All Kids’ participants in New York City where KneoWorld is delivering excellent educational outcomes and gaining serious traction and visibility.”

KneoMedia has ended the day 3.57 per cent in the red with shares trading at 1.4 cents for a $15.72 million market cap.

The company announced its proposal on June 8, saying the group would take until the last quarter of 2021 to decide.

According to the most recent announcement, the decision is still being assessed with no new deadline revealed.

The June announcement claimed the reason for a secondary listing was to allow Singaporean and Malaysian investors and clients to participate in and benefit from 8VI’s growth.

The board said the secondary listing would also boost credibility with regulators and strategic partners close to home.

Shares in 8VI remain steady today at $4 each as of 1:06 pm AEDT.

MFD will remain in a trading halt until the commencement of trading on November 2 or when Mayfield releases its acquisition and capital raising announcement, whichever comes first.

Mayfield Childcare is an ASX-listed childcare company with 21 Victorian childcare centres representing 1777 registered childcare places.

For the first half of 2021, statutory revenue for the group — before stimulus package income — was $16.9 million, up 79 per cent.

Overall revenue grew to $17.5 million, up 6.1 per cent, partly due to a final government support and stimulus payment of $600,000. Net profit after tax (NPAT) came to $1.3 million, up 129.4 per cent.

The 2021 fiscal year has been largely steady, according to Mayfield, showing a more normalised economic climate, despite the effects of the gradual return to work levels for private office and public sector workers, as well as a number of state-wide lockdowns in Victoria.

As Victorians battled their way out of a 111-day lockdown, residual limitations hindered the start of the 2021 fiscal year.

The group finished the first half of the calendar year with $7.6 million in net debt, $32.1 million in net assets — up by $4.9 million — and an occupancy rate of 66 per cent.

Shares in Mayfield Childcare last traded at $1.20 on Thursday, October 28.

QATs develops and sells assessments and non-assessments tasks, such as case studies and practical assignments, to schools across Australia for students in years 11 and 12.

The assessments provide students with practice materials and resources so they can prepare for end-of-year exams. The assessments are created digitally and sent electronically to teachers and schools across the country.

QATs also has a significant market presence with an approximate 50 per cent national market share of the roughly 2800 secondary schools across Australia.

Janison has agreed to pay a total consideration of $2 million to acquire QATs. Of this, $1.25 million will be paid in cash upfront upon completion and the remaining amount will be deferred for one year and is contingent upon achieving a certain revenue target in FY22. The total consideration will be funded from Janison’s cash balance.

Janison Managing Director David Caspari commented on the deal.

“Ever since our acquisition of ICAS in 2020, our business has been on a journey to accumulate a suite of world-class assessments for the schools’ market, allowing Janison to pair its tried-and-tested assessment platform technology with a broad content portfolio of school products.”

The company believes this acquisition will expand its presence in Australian schools and broaden its product offering by bringing in a suite of well-regarded assessments from a reputable brand.

The buy also introduces over 250 skilled test writers and reviewers which supports Janison’s strategy of developing and revamping its digital library of assessments and resources.

Company shares were up a slight 1.05 per cent to close at 96 cents.

Tutorfly is a tutoring business concentrating on the peer-to-peer section of the market, which achieved rapid growth during its initial start-up phase.

KME will purchase Tutorfly for an initial payment of US$500,000 (approximately A$682,000). A further payment of this amount will be paid when the business hits revenue targets.

Under the agreement, Kip McGrath will be given an option to purchase the remaining interest in Tutorfly for US$2 million (about A$2.7 million).

This option may be exercised once the business achieves US$50,000 (A$68,000) per month net revenue targets.

Completion of this purchase is expected this month, however is subject to certain conditions being met.

KME CEO and Managing Director Storm McGrath said this purchase was a strategic move for the company.

“We are looking to expand our business into other areas of the tutoring andsupplementary education market and in particular the US, which is the largest tutoring market in the world,” Mr McGrath said.

“Tutorfly is a marketplace business where tutors and students are matched through a pairing algorithm with software which is globally scalable.”

Co-founder and CEO of Tutorfly Parsa Rezvani is also pleased with the deal.

“The Tutorfly brand is already well established in tutoring marketplaces across the US and allows parents to browse, contact and hold virtual tutoring sessions with tutors of their choosing, without needing to go through a Tutorfly employee,” Mr Rezvani said.

“The Tutorfly Team is especially excited to team up with Kip McGrath to further equip Tutorfly tutors and students with proprietary Kip McGrath content, curriculum, and training materials.”

Interestingly, the global tutoring market is changing, as parents and governments are looking at ways to close the gap created by COVID-19 and ensuring children have the potential to reach their highest potential.

KME closed up 4.11 per cent at $1.14 per share on September 1.

The UOW is one of the top 200 universities in the world according to the QS World University Rankings 2021. It has more than 36,000 students across its campuses in Australia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Dubai.

The five-year deal is valued at a minimum of $624,250 and will involve UOW utilising OpenLearning’s platform to develop and market different courses and to obtain learning design services on a fee-for-service basis.

UOW selected OpenLearning due to it being a leading online education platform. At the end of the first quarter of 2020, OLL had more than 4.6 million enrolments from 2.8 million learners in courses from over 177 education providers.

The selection also aligns with UOW’s 2020-2025 strategic plan of being a lifelong learning partner to its students and alumni.

OpenLearning will enable the university to efficiently and cost-effectively expand its offerings through short course and micro-credentials that engage learners.

“Both the university and OpenLearning have a global outlook, a passion for increasing access to quality education, and a focus on designing transformative learning experiences that prepare people for the future of work,” OLL CEO and Managing Director Adam Brimo said.

“We look forward to working closely with the University of Wollongong and all of our partners in the years to come.”

OpenLearning’s shares closed the day steady at 14.5 cents.

EVO operates 115 childcare centres across New Zealand as well as an additional 20 centres across Australia.

It explained today that its occupancy rates in Auckland hovered around 70 per cent at the end of May, with teacher shortages partially to blame.

The issue didn’t extend to Australia though, EVO reported an 87.8 per cent occupancy rate in the country’s southern states and an 80 per cent occupancy rate in Queensland.

Based on the trading condition in Australia and New Zealand, the childcare operator expects to end FY21 with up to NZ$18.5 million (around A$17.84 million) in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA).

EVO then expects its EBITDA to increase to a maximum of NZ$25 million (about A$23.3 million) in FY22.

The company entered June with approximately NZ$48 million (roughly A$41.93 million) worth of cash.

Looking ahead, EVO shareholders will soon receive a dividend, with the company stating it intends to commence quarterly dividend payments from September.

Evolve also flagged additional centre acquisitions in the future, after carrying out a recent capital raise.

Following today’s trading update, company shares were trading down 1.17 per cent at 84.5 cents each at 1:42 pm AEST.

As of today – April 15 – more than 200 schools have signed contracts to undertake an assessment over the next year.

Janison is expected to receive at least $1.4 million per annum for the schools that have already signed.

In March, Janison was accredited by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCED) as a sole provider of PISA for Schools in Australia.

PISA for Schools is an online assessment that supports individual improvement efforts using benchmarking based on the OCED’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

The test is made up of two components with the first one consisting of a cognitive test in science, maths and reading to test the student’s knowledge.

The second component consists of a questionnaire regarding the student’s home and school situation, and their motivation for doing well in their studies.

“I am delighted with the pace in which this program is being rolled out across Australia and the impact it will make to the lives of thousands of secondary school children” CEO David Caspari said.

“We are honoured to be partnering with the OECD and to be playing a pivotal role in the delivery of this global program,” he added.

Janison has ended the day 5.33 per cent in the green with shares trading at 79 cents in a $157.9 million market cap.

The company released its latest quarterly financial report today, highlighting sturdy revenue and strong earnings despite ongoing economic challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The $4.55 million quarterly revenue is 52 per cent higher than iCollege’s March quarter revenue in 2020, which came in at just under $3 million.

What’s more, iCollege posted this record revenue figure despite not receiving any JobKeeper assistance over the quarter.

The strong revenue translated to an unaudited earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) figure of just over $1 million.

iCollege Managing Director Ashish Katta said the strong quarterly result was largely driven by domestic training students.

“Obviously, with international borders remaining closed, our international student business is limited to onshore international recruitment activities which remain stable month-on-month,” he said.

Nevertheless, onshore international recruitment still accounted for almost half of iCollege’s quarterly revenue, generating just over $1.5 million in enrolment value.

Quarterly revenue was split 53 per cent domestic and 47 per cent international. As far as sectors are concerned, training for hospitality and aged care combined accounted for two-thirds of revenue, with the rest split between construction, business, and more.

Over the quarter, iCollege completed and fitted out a major new Perth campus, and even with the associated expenses, the company managed to end the quarter with a positive operating cashflow of $137,000.

Today’s news comes not long after iCollege first lobbed a major takeover bid for fellow ASX-listed Redhill Education (RDH).

iCollege is offering an all-scrip deal valuing Redhill at $50.3 million, or 99 cents per share.

“The proposed off-market (all scrip) takeover offer for Redhill Education is a compelling opportunity for iCollege and will create what we believe will be one of the leading and most diversified education and training businesses in Australia,” Ashish said.

“As a company, we believe this combination of both entities will create significant and sustainable value for the shareholders of both businesses,” he said.

iCollege has submitted its bidder’s statement justifying the buyout, though no deal has been signed with Redhill just yet.

iCollege said it is expecting a strong final quarter of the financial year, which will help underpin the highest full-year revenue result for iCollege since its listing on the ASX.

At the same time, the company is pursuing expansion opportunities in the form of acquisitions, like the proposed Redhill deal. The purpose of the planned expansion is to chase more opportunities in New South Wales and Victoria.

Shares in iCollege closed a neat 15.38 per cent higher this afternoon at 15 cents. The company has an $87 million market cap.

The company entered a trading halt yesterday, with details of the raise initially expected on April 6.

However, today Evolve has announced the full placement details, stating that the money will go towards funding flexibility for future centre acquisition opportunities in Australia.

Approximately 19.7 million new fully paid ordinary shares will be issued at $1.10 each, representing a 7.9 per cent discount to yesterday’s closing price.

New shares issued under the placement will rank equally with existing EVO ordinary shares.

Settlement is scheduled for Friday April 9, with allotment and quotation of shares expected on the NZX and ASX on Monday April 12.

The company said new and existing institutional and sophisticated investors showed strong support for the raise.

Managing Director Chris Scott commented on the placement.

“The capital raising will contribute to further implementing our Australian expansion strategy, as we believe the current market conditions are highly favourable for centre acquisitions and market consolidation. We look forward to putting investors’ money to work,” he said.

EVO’s shares last traded at $1.20 on March 30.

The group is a global provider of Software-as-a-Service and training solutions for teachers and educational institution.

Earlier this month, Schrole signed a new contract with ISHCMC in Vietnam to deliver Schrole Develop’s Diploma of Leadership and Management program.

The program will be delivered to the school as an online service utilising Schrole Develop’s learning management system.

The initial contract with ISHCMC was to develop the program to three cohorts totalling 24 students.

However, now a further cohort of 8 students have been added, making 32 students confirmed as participants over an initial two-year contract.

The value of this additional cohort is US$25,6000 (around A$33,000), increasing the total value of the contract to US$102,400 (approx. A$134,800).

ISHCMC is part of the global Cognita Group of 82 schools, Schrole believes that this contract could provide significant potential for further sales.

On market close for the day, Schrole is in the grey and trading at 1.5 cents per share.

The group is a provider of global software-as-a-service (SaaS) and training solutions for teachers and educational institutions.

The Diploma of Leadership and Management program will be delivered to the school as an online service utilising Schrole Develop’s learning management system.

According to Schrole, the diploma is globally scalable, and the course content is contextualised for teachers in international schools.

Managing Director Rob Graham commented on the partnership.

“It is very pleasing to have signed this contract with ISHCMC. The program has had enthusiastic take up by teachers, and our contextualised program will help develop well trained leaders who can assist with the ongoing development of the school.”

“The delivery of professional development services into international schools is part of Schrole’s strategy to provide a range of HR services to schools including an extended suite of SaaS modules and additional high value services such as professional development and training,” he continued.

As ISHCMC is part of the global Cognita Group of 82 schools, Schrole believes the contract could provide significant potential for further sales.

The company mission is to become the world’s leading two-sided online marketplace for teachers and educational institutions.

Consequently, the company has planned a sales and marketing drive for the second half of this year with the hopes it will provide growth to its four products — Advantage, Verify, Cover and Develop — in the international education sector.

Furthermore, Schrole has commenced discussions to introduce the products to Cognita’s 7500 employees within 82 schools in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia.

Schrole shares last traded in the green, up 7.14 per cent for 1.5 cents each.

The new childcare centres will have licensed capacity of 816 children per day. This is expected to translate to earnings before interest, tax, appreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for Evolve of $6.93 million per year.

The child centre specialist will also make a deferred payment of $5 million if the centres bring in an additional $1.27 million worth of EBITDA within the first year of the transaction.

Essentially, this means if the total EBITDA for the new centres for the first 12 months after the transaction has settled is at least $8.2 million, Evolve will pay $32.13 million for the purchase.

“This latest acquisition takes the total number of centres operated by EVO to 116 in New Zealand and 20 in Australia,” Evolve Managing Director Chris Scott said.

He added that the company will only have to front minimal addition support office costs to manage the extra to childcare centres.

Along with the announcement of the extra childcare centre purchases, Evolve said it plans to begin paying dividends once more from the final quarter of 2021.

While the company did not give any details about the dividend or exactly when shareholders can expect the payout, it’s likely welcome news for investors given the halting of dividend payments over the 2020 financial year.

Evolve paid a two-cent-per-share dividend in the 2019 financial year, but made the call to pay no dividend in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to bring major uncertainty to the company and global economy.

Evolve said further details about dividend payments will be announced later in 2021.

Shareholders responded well to today’s news, with Evolve shares up 6.36 per cent at 3:05 pm AEDT to $1.26 per share. The company has a $164.9 million market cap.