Mulanje-based Rise and Shine Primary School, established under the FDH Bank plc flagship Graduate Start-Ups Programme, has achieved a 100% pass rate in the 2024/2025 Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education (PSLCE) examinations, just two and a half years after opening its doors.
The school enrolled 21 candidates, all of whom passed, with 12 securing places in national secondary schools.
Commenting on the milestone, FDH Bank plc Deputy Managing Director, George Chitera, said the success reflects the Bank’s commitment to empowering graduates and communities through its Graduate Start-Ups initiative and the broader FDH Bank plc Cares Sustainability Program.
“When we speak about championing growth and building a sustainable Malawi, these are the initiatives we are happy to grow and support and watch both the students benefit as well as the administrators of the schools.
“We are really impressed with the fruits of this project,” he said.
Chitera also pointed out that the Bank has added two more projects to the Graduate Start up program with Green Gold, a business that produces vegetables in Lilongwe and Livesmart Furnitures, a business focusing on producing quality locally made furniture.
Speaking on behalf of the school, one of the founders and directors, Vincent Kambuku, said that the school is proud of the strides it has made since opening.
“We are happy with the exponential growth of the school since inception, and this 100% pass rate milestone is not only a testament to the hard work we put in, but also our passion and commitment towards the provision of quality education in Malawi.”
“We received financial support from FDH Bank Plc at the beginning, and we still receive a lot of technical support from the team at the Bank, which has sharpened us to develop fast and meet our objectives,” said Kambuku.
Rise and Shine Primary School is one of the successful entrepreneurial ideas from the collaborative partnership between FDH Bank Plc and Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS) aimed at supporting the Malawi2063 and UN Sustainable Development Goals through the provision of a platform for new graduates to pitch business ideas for funding and growth.
In its insatiable quest to empowering young Malawian university graduates, with innovative sustainable entrepreneurship project ideas that can help them to employ themselves and create other rooms for employment to fellow youths.
In 2022FDH Bank injected K45 million into the Mulanje-based Rise and Shine Private Primary School during its launch.
Rise and Shine Private Primary School school is a project run by a group of Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS) graduates under FDH Bank Graduate Start-up Program which was launched in December of 2021.
Rise & Shine Group, the management behind Rise and Shine Private Primary School has eight members and has already employed over 20 members of staff.
According to Chitera FDH Bank decided to come up with the program after being concerned with the increased unemployment rate among the youths in the country.
The FDH Bank Graduate Start-up initiative, which is the first of its kind in the financial services industry as well as the corporate world, identified five companies for the support including Rise & Shine School; Clean Energy of Enterprise (CLEE); Direct-Connect Real Estate Solutions (Di-coRES); Kuwali interior Design & Decoration (KIDD) and My Artistic Dream (School of Art and Gallery).
Spurred by the need to empower the youth in the country, The Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS) partnered with the country’s leading home-grown commercial bankers, FDH Bank, to roll out a graduate startup program that seeks to provide capital to MUBAS graduates who want to venture into entrepreneurship.
The official launch of the program took place on April 2nd, 2024 at the MUBAS campus in Blantyre.
Speaking at the launch of the project in 2024, MUBAS Vice-Chancellor, Associate Professor Nancy Chitera, urged the students to utilize the opportunity availed through the start-up program to empower themselves economically and make meaningful contributions to the country’s economy.
Professor Chitera, an astute trained mathematics educationalist, who has been the Vice Chancellor of the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS) since 15 February 2022 applauded FDH Bank for introducing the program saying it will help the young graduates who find it hard to secure jobs.
“It is true that most people believe that once they graduate, they will get employed, but FDH Bank has come to change that culture by encouraging graduates to produce a good business venture.
“We are now happy that our graduates managed to convince the bank and it is our expectation that a number of students will benefit from this program,” professor Chitera said.
“We are really impressed with the fruits of this project.”
George Chitera
FDH Bank Deputy Managing Director,
