ABE endorses Kings Foundation Secondary School to offer KidsMBA programme

The Advancing Business Education (ABE), a renowned examining body in United Kingdom, has partnered with Kings Foundation Secondary School to offer it’s endorsed KidsMBA programme to students.

The move is a global initiative by ABE aimed at teaching entrepreneurship and business skills to students in order to introduce them to a world of opportunities later in their life other than for them to wait just for the government and the corporate world to create jobs for them.

ABE endorsed KidsMBA is a ground-breaking programme, which develops real-world business and entrepreneurial skills in children.

Through games and role-play, the programme introduces all the key concepts of running a business and it gives children a really good practical understanding of what being an entrepreneur entails.

In an interview, Kings Foundation Secondary School Director, Chitsanzo Hiwa said they are rolling out the programme from January 2022.

“It will be run just like other clubs that are there at the school for example; Science Club and Wildlife Club among others. All participants will get an ABE Endorsed KidsMBA certificate of achievement.
“At the end of the programme, the students will have to pitch their business plan to ‘investors’ and the best pitch will get a star performer award and the opportunity to go through to the international ABE Endorsed Future Entrepreneur of the Year competition,” he said.

The KidsMBA programme is already being offered to students in countries such as United States, Rwanda, Colombia, Myanmar, Zambia, Trinidad, Guyana, China, Thailand, Mauritius and Nigeria.

Hiwa said the program is vital because the ability to create own viable business is one of the most valuable life skills one can possess and it should be offered to every child from the start of secondary school.

“Entrepreneurs are the people who create jobs and find solutions to society’s most pressing problems. Entrepreneurship is about being adaptable and recognising how to overcome adversity and generate your own income.

“Beyond that, the programme fosters numerous other beneficial skills and behaviours. It promotes the ability to stick at problems and proactively find creative solutions. It advocates self-confidence, taking responsibility, speaking clearly and effectively, working in a team, critically assessing information, and sharing ideas in an engaging and persuasive manner.

“Plus, seeing how subjects such as Mathematics and literacy apply to the real world of work has been shown to help children engage more in their wider academic studies.

“It also often sparks a passion for business which lays a strong foundation for later in-depth business studies such as ABE’s professional diplomas. On one level it provides the vital know-how that could enable the student to generate their own income, on another, it lays the foundation for a future in business leadership,” he said.

ABE strongly believes that entrepreneurship is becoming increasingly vital as traditional employment routes can no longer be relied upon, hence teaching entrepreneurship and business skills from an early age will introduce students to a world of opportunities.

KidsMBA is an exciting new programme which develops real-world business and entrepreneurship skills in children at age 11 – 14.

Students gain confidence whilst developing a practical understanding of what running a business entails, sparking a desire to build on their knowledge by pursuing further business studies.

Through project-based learning, children are motivated in their wider pursuits.

“With KidsMBA they are encouraged to relate their own entrepreneurial instincts to other activities they enjoy and care about. This entrepreneurial talent can then be nurtured and polished throughout a child’s school life.

“Like a university MBA programme, KidsMBA can connect students with their peers around the world who are undertaking the same KidsMBA learning experience.

Kings Foundation Secondary School shall be the first school in Malawi to offer the ABE Endorsed KidsMBA programme and ABE (UK) has linked the school with Belmont Mill Hill School, a school of excellence in London.

They have offered to pay for 50 of our students for the KidsMBA programme.

Apart from that, the two schools shall at times offer joint online lessons for the KidsMBA programme, hold cultural exchanges, debate and other competitions,” he said

In 2020, ABE backed the largest ever research-led report that looked at the effect of introducing entrepreneurship education to children from the age of eleven, called Educating Future Founders.

The study was produced by a leading entrepreneurial think tank, the Entrepreneurs Network, and it assessed the outcomes of entrepreneurial programmes in many different countries across the world.

The findings were consist and made a compelling case for embedding entrepreneurship into the curriculum from the start of secondary school.

It showed where this was offered it reduced unemployment and increased the financial stability of the participants when compared with those of a similar educational background who had not had entrepreneurial education in school.

Kings Foundation Secondary was founded in 1998 in Ntcheu as a boarding school and over the years it has grown tremendously.

In 2009 Kings Foundation Primary School opened its doors at Ntcheu campus. It caters for both day scholars and boarders.

In 2013 Kings Foundation Secondary School, Lilongwe campus was established in Area 25C and offers Cambridge curriculum.

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