Mr Jawwad Uddin is crowned the winner in hit TV show
Emdad Rahman
Mr Jawwad Uddin, a 16 year old pupil of the London Islamic School, has been crowned the 3G Boss of 2016 by community broadcaster Channel S and the Canary Wharf Group PLC. Jawwad, who has memorised the Quran and is studying to become an engineer, took part in a reality TV show which pitted some of the UK’s brightest young entrepreneurs aged 14-18 against each other.
The ten week programme bought the fledgling entrepreneurs together to pit their wits against each other in team based and individual tasks. Each candidate, chosen from a shortlist of hundreds of names, was thoroughly tested on their level of leadership, strategic thinking, communication, knowledge and team building skills.
In a reflection of the BBC’s “Apprentice” programme, candidates remained in the process based on their skill as well as their ability to impress ruthless judges; Howard Dawber, Strategic Advisor at the Canary Wharf Group plc, Dr Sanawar Choudhury and Kuhinoor Kabir.
The weeks leading up to the final involved tasks being varied on a weekly basis, commencing with an intense interview process, delivering a business plan to run a reputable restaurant in Brick Lane and Whitechapel, fundraising for charity fundraising, overseeing a promotional campaign for Channel S, designing and selling a new international phone card, promoting and signing members for college courses and writing a business plan for a new innovative product/service designed by the candidates.
Jawwad, the second eldest of nine children, successfully made it through the tasks and was a winner in seven out of eight tasks. The quietly spoken youngster may have demonstrated a modest demeanour, but his talents hadn’t escaped the hawk-eyed judges who referred to the teenager as the “quiet rough diamond”. The faith shown spurred Jawwad into action as his performances and confidence grew enough to beat a path through to the final. There he faced the formidable Sadia, another excellent candidate, who came from West London and had displayed excellent confidence and entrepreneurship over the weeks and who was rightly labelled a favourite.
Both teenagers were briefed on their task, which was to come up with an idea for a community project. The next part would involve planning, research and presentation to the judges. The carrot for the winner would be Canary Wharf Group PLC fully funding the winning project.
Jawwad’s idea was to set up a methodical system to prepare young people for the new changes in GCSE regulations in 2016. He split this into stages of support which could be given: stage 1, a needs assessment of the young person conducted by a qualified careers advisor to map pathways; stage 2, a tutoring service to help achieve the end goal; and stage 3, a mentoring system in which mentors would be attached to young people to help build a relationship, accompany them on leisure trips and support the young person to reach the goals set in stage 1.
All three judges were thoroughly impressed with Jawwad’s idea – but even more so with his personal development during the whole 3G Boss process. He was unanimously crowned the 3G Boss of 2016 and given an opportunity to take part in a six week apprenticeship at the Canary Wharf Group.
The ecstatic 16 year old former London Islamic School student said, “I am very grateful to London Islamic School and Mr Arif Abdurrahman for nominating me as a candidate for the 3G Boss. I was not aware of the competition and having participated and been successful in this amazing process I can appreciate how hard one must work to make a success of oneself. I’m truly grateful to everyone for the opportunities.”
Jawwad, who now attends the City of London Boys College, added: “A big thank you goes out to Channel S, the Canary Wharf Group, my teachers, parents and of course Mr Howard Dawber and the judges for supporting me and having such great faith in me and I hope to repay this confidence by giving back to my community in the very near future.”
Jawwad is studying maths, further maths, chemistry and physics at the City of London Boys College and has been invited to attend an international debate in Qatar in April.
Abdulhadi Mamon, headteacher at London Islamic School, added: “We are extremely proud of Jawwad on his achievement. He was always a great student which is why the school nominated him for the show. Let us not forget this is a star pupil who achieved 11 A* grades at London Islamic School and has gained a scholarship with the City of London College. We pray for his success and hope that this success breaks down barriers, tackles misconceptions and demonstrates to the wider community that young people in Islamic schools are well rounded individuals who are driven to succeed just like everyone else.”