The team of Islamia College Grade 11s who won an entrepreneurship challenge at the school exceeded all expectations when they raised R13 000 within three weeks with just R120 start-up capital.
The school’s business studies teachers set the Grade 11s the challenge to encourage entrepreneurship. Teams could not have more than six members, and each member could only contribute R20 each towards their start-up capital.
On Tuesday September 6, the winning teams were announced at a ceremony in the school’s auditorium.
“The challenge was to see who can generate the most profit with a limited capital and time restriction. The amounts that were generated were fantastic. They will now split their profits and give back to the community,” said Grade 11 business studies teacher Aaminah Noor-Mohamed.
The second-place winners made R8 900 and the third-place winners made R6 900.
Leicester Momberg, chief business studies subject adviser at the Western Cape Education Department (WCED), who was the guest speaker at the ceremony, said entrepreneurship was a sure way to curb unemployment.
“I am extremely proud of all the learners and what I’ve seen happening here. You have now acquired a valuable set of skills that will stand you in good stead in the future,” he said.
Adelah Failal, a member of the winning team, said that with her other school work, the challenge had been “a bit stressful”.
“It was a good learning experience – to work with a team and to work with money,” she said.
Laylay Royker, whose team took second place, said: “At first, I thought it would be difficult working as a team, but this whole experience brought us closer together. It was a lot of fun.”
Layaan Pietersen, from the winning team, said every team member had done their part.
“It taught us a lot about teamwork. It was a nice experience and we are so happy that we won the challenge,” she said.