BEntrepreneur Magazine sat down with Janet James Lanceley, founder of KG Kids Pre-School, Palms School and The Hive creative space to talk about innovation and empowerment through education.

What inspired you to start the business?

I arrived in Bahrain in 1982 from the UK, having worked in the education sector with a focus on developing new curriculums. I started with the opening of IKNS (Ibn Khuldoon National School) in 1983 which was a great development for Bahrain—it being Bahrain’s second private bilingual school. Later I worked with St. Christopher’s School until 1993. During this period, I had my first two children and was disappointed with the lack of quality pre-schools offering both English and Arabic courses at a professional level. I could find good quality British schools which taught an hour or so of Arabic each week, but this fell short of what I felt children needed. At the time, Arabic was taught as a requirement for the Ministry but seemed to focus more on sitting at desks memorizing lines rather than on early years creativity. I have an enormous passion for children and learning, and am always researching the latest techniques and development, which is what spurred me to find a good pre-school.

Bahrain needed a new flavour, a new concept to meet the growing needs of our diverse community. I knew with my newly acquired Bahraini background and my experience in course design, I could create an environment perfectly suited to the needs of our children. I had all the ingredients – building on the excellence of the British Early Years Curriculum, adding to it the rich heritage and culture of Bahrain and finally sprinkling it with my ability to bring together different nationalities of staff to work as one in 2 languages! My recipe was complete, and this became the essence of KG Kids. That was 25 years ago. Since then, we have opened Palms School in 2004 because parents wanted to continue this approach after pre-school. In 2009, we opened a branch of KG Kids in Saar followed by Lanceley Consulting in 2012 to give a stronger base from which to manage the schools. Lanceley Consulting involves my two eldest daughters, my brother and sister-in-law, both from the UK. It is truly a family business and this sense of belonging extends throughout KG Kids and Palms, to all our students, staff and parents. Family is what binds us all together and I believe this is why we’ve been so successful for so many years! This year we’ve moved KG Kids to an amazing new campus with our newest venture launching in January, The Hive, a creative space for after-school clubs and community activities. My passion remains as strong today as it was 25 years ago! Now we have parents who were previous KG Kids pupils, 2nd generation KG kids!

What do you think is the role of education in today’s modern world?

Education is going through huge changes and it’s an exciting time to be involved. I remember hearing a joke about a man who had been in a coma for 100 years and as he left the hospital and walked around the town, he was amazed by all the new technology and developments. When he went into the local school he relaxed and said, “Oh good, at least one thing hasn’t changed!” Now we are beginning to see changes, with many schools looking at reform. Globally educationists are challenging education philosophy and methodology and that’s bringing big changes to how we teach the next generation. In Finland for example, the quality of education is very different, with much more emphasis on student-led learning, integrated subjects, fluidity between learning areas, and a much more practical, hands-on approach, a far cry from the traditional authoritarian approach of students sitting at desks in front of a blackboard with the teacher doing all the talking. The Reggio Emelia approach, a pedagogy of student-centred and constructivist learning, utilizes self-directed, experiential learning in a relationship-driven environment. The program is based on the principles of respect, responsibility and community, through exploration and discovery of a self-guided curriculum. I think we need to bring back these principles to help educate the whole child, not just ABC and 123. These influences are evident in good classrooms today. Interestingly when I visited the town of Reggio, I discovered the approach actually started after World War II and yet we are only now seeing a revival in child centred practical expression and investigation. The role of education has always been to educate the next generation. Success in today’s society requires a new set of skills, not only operational but interpersonal, to navigate the rapidly changing environment which our children will lead. Today’s education must remain fluid and pertinent to their future.

How are young people, especially women, empowered by education?

Society and education play a huge role in the empowerment of women, they are interdependent, one enabling the other. Young people today are very fortunate that our society focuses on education, training and empowerment. In days gone by, Bahrain was a leader in the Gulf, providing education for women, the first school for girls in 1929 and encouraging women to go abroad to study in the 1950’s. Through developing education, Bahrain has made great achievements and continues to overcome today’s challenges in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, thanks to the vision and guidance of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. As a result, Bahrain has flourished from a clear direction and the resulting introduction of the reform, legitimizing the role of women and eliminating discrimination against women. Bahrain’s National Charter seeks to affirm the equality of men and women and so much has been done towards this goal over the last few years. Bahrain’s landscape, likes its education, is changing.

Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ebrahim Al Khalifa, wife of His Majesty The King, as president of The Supreme Council for Women, embodies the development of education for women and has been catalytic in educational developments. Established in 2001, the Supreme Council for Women is the official body responsible for all women’s affairs under the direction of His Majesty. The Council has made a number of recommendations aimed at narrowing the gender gap in line with the Constitution and international conventions. As part of a national strategy for the advancement of women, Bahrain has a focus on areas such as women in power and decision-making roles, and women and the economy. Bahraini women are present in the three legislative, executive and judicial branches of authority. They participated in the committee which drafted the National Charter and are involved in the process of the referendum on the Charter. The Kingdom has further sought to ensure that there are women in the Consultative Council (a branch of the National Assembly). Women also participate in political life; they exercise their right to vote and have stood as candidates in the municipal and parliamentary elections since 2002, as well as chairing electoral commissions. In the public and private sectors, Bahraini women now hold leading positions as ministers, ambassadors, university chancellors, and assistant undersecretary of State and directors. The participation of women in the labour market has visibly increased over the last three decades; they have entered new sectors and assumed positions previously held exclusively by men.

Empowerment of women in education is one of the focus points of Tamkeen, a semi-autonomous government agency in Bahrain. Founded in 2006 to provide assistance and training to private sector businesses and individuals, and to promote the development of that sector. The initiative came from HRH Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, The Crown Prince and is chaired by H.E. Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, Chairman of Tamkeen. Tamkeen has taken steps to improve the employability of, and employment rate for women in Bahrain. In 2009–2010 approximately 80% of unemployed people were females. Tamkeen provided training courses and grants, and organized training and employment exhibitions for women only. Today, over 20,000 women have been supported by Tamkeen and I’m so proud to be one of them! We have so many female role models to look up to, women who give others courage and determination, women who truly inspire others to take a greater role in society. Of course, we have a long way to go, but everything has to start somewhere, and the equal rights movement for women worldwide remains heavily influenced by education.

What were the challenges you encountered in your business and how were you able to overcome these challenges?

They say that to be successful, sometimes you have to fail; I believe that’s true. I always think very hard about any new idea I have. Both my office and my home are littered with huge sheets of drawing paper with notes on, my visual mind-map which helps me to reflect on where we’re going as an organization and how we’ll get there. I try to think of every inevitability, to control every situation, but years of experience have taught me that you have to accept that you can only control so much, influence a little more, and at times be challenged by the external factors that you simply cannot control. Like many entrepreneurs, we think we’re in complete control, but in reality, that’s so often not the case. That was my challenge when both global and local economic challenges arose that I hadn’t anticipated. I was looking for investors around the time of
2008 when the world economy was failing and we had just opened KG Kids in Saar in 2009. Just when we were establishing the new school, the H1N1 virus spread and schools closed, then in 2011, local events forced us to close the Saar branch entirely. Because of good planning, we survived, all we lost was a great deal of time and effort but these act as constant reminders of how the best planning doesn’t prevent external factors having the last word.

As the schools grew, I looked for help in business management and around this same time, (2007) the government started an initiative called Tamkeen, to support entrepreneurs, as I mentioned earlier. Tamkeen has been an invaluable support to my business from its inception. I am so proud to be a part of Bahrain and work with a supportive business community. Today we have invested over BD100,000 with Tamkeen’s support in business development, consultancy and equipment. As a business grows, quality assurance becomes very important. The government set up an entity which visited schools and assessed quality– Bahrain Quality Assurance and Training. They were very helpful in identifying strengths and weaknesses. Whilst others may be nervous and negative about such a visit, we were always welcoming, it was a free consultancy after all!

What advice can you give to entrepreneurs especially those who want to work in the Education sector?

If you’re reading this then perhaps you’re already thinking about becoming an entrepreneur so you must already have a passion. Are you strong and determined in your belief, in your dream? Are you indeed a dreamer? Do you imagine and think of new ideas all the time? Do you scribble down notes everywhere? Is your brain constantly running and bringing you new ideas? I believe most importantly you need to have these qualities. Over the years my nickname has been Octopus(!) and now at work, with my 2 1/2-year-old Grandson Ali, it’s been upgraded to Grandma Octopus. My brain is always working on 100 different things and my desk is always messy but I know where everything is! It can be exhausting for others and you will need to have planners and doers on your team but first and foremost, the entrepreneur must create. With the ever-increasing development rate of technology in our world today, our youngsters will need to be highly proficient in these areas and we’re beginning to see many more opportunities in this area for kids. Lanceley Consulting is launching our newest project ‘The Hive creative space,’ which is an amazing concept for afternoon activities for all ages. A kind of community centre – a Hive where busy bees can get together. We plan to have afterschool classes in ballet, taekwondo, football, gymnastics, Zumba, art, Steam, robotics, coding, languages and birthday parties and events– as well as exercise classes for mums and baby groups with talks on breast feeding and baby care. I hope it will become a pop-up centre for local artists and entrepreneurs to showcase their talents and wares. Come along, its beside our Kindergarten and is the first of its kind in Riffa.

You can see that I never stopped being an entrepreneur even after 25 years of KG Kids! There is so much support in Bahrain, our youth are very lucky. Look for a need in society and don’t forget to consider location, be prepared to work hard, and then harder still. Believe in yourself, believe in your dream, believe in Bahrain.

For more information:

KG Kids Pre-School

www.kgkids.com +973 1766 3556

Palms School

www.palms.school +973 1766 6637

The Hive Creative Space

+973 1748 4777