Association of Business Executives

"When given the option to choose between two things, I prefer the easy task to the difficult one"

Muhammad (SAW)



The Association of Business Executives qualifications are the easiest of all the ones I have written about so far. And I don't mean that their syllabus is lean or their examinations are too simple.



On the contrary, the syllabus is quite rich and comprehensive. But in terms of the value that ABE provides, it should be the preferred choice of business students. They offer more options than others. They are more recognized internationally. Universities in UK, US, Canada, Australia, Middle East and even Africa accept ABE qualifications for further studies. It is not rigid or too restrictive.





There is no limit to the number of examinations you can sit for, provided the subjects are not clashing on the time table. ABE is also cheaper; with N100, 000 a student can finish Human Resource Management from certificate level to Advanced Diploma level (a degree equivalent).



They have excellent tuition resources to guide and aid teachers and their students in preparing for the examinations. All these combined to give flexible, affordable and respected qualifications.



Options



ABE qualifications cover a broad area in business. There is business management for business management students and professionals. They also offer a qualification in Human Resource Management, which its demand is greater than supply in the business world now.



Computer students are also accommodated as they can study Business Information Systems. Students who are numbers savvy can take Financial Management. Travel and tourism, which is a trendy sector in the business world also has its set of subjects under Travel, Tourism and Hospitality. These five qualification are enough options for the business student to choose where they want to major in.



Subjects



The qualifications above have three levels: Certificate, Diploma I (and Diploma II) and Advanced Diploma. Unlike British Computer Society, which has a few modules per level, ABE has more modules - ABE calls them subjects - especially at Diploma level.



Business Management alone has 21 subjects a student needs to cover from certificate level to Advanced Diploma level. Business Information Systems has 25, Marketing 14, Human Resource Management 19 and Travel, Tourism and Hospitality 24. These many subjects prove that by the time a student finishes a chosen qualification, he will be very knowledgeable in that field.



ABE is another BOGOF (Buy One Get One Free)



Many universities around the world will admit ABE qualifications holders on to different stages of their BA, MA, MBA or MSc. Some will consider ABE Advanced Diploma and as first degree and welcome a student into their Master programmes. This makes ABE Advanced Diploma equivalent to a BA.



For example Anglia Ruskin University in UK will give ABE Diploma holders 120 credits and 240 credits to Advance Diploma holders. University of Bolton also in UK admits students with ABE Advanced Diploma into their final year in Business Studies. Students with Advanced Diploma and significant amount of relevant work experience are admitted into MSc or MBA Management. University of Central Oklahoma, USA, gives three semester hours credit for every completed unit of ABE.



Charles Sturt University, Australia awards nine exemptions to ABE Diploma holders in Bachelor of Business Studies.



Other universities like Athabasca University in Canada, Banasthali Vidvapith in India, University of East London in UK, Institute of Technology of Australia, Kenya Methodist University and Limkokwing University College in Malaysia give exemptions or credits to ABE advanced Diploma and Advanced Diploma holders giving them the advantage to study in the university closest to them or the one that's most affordable.



Examinations



Examinations are held twice a year in June and December. Although ABE recommends not registering for more than five subjects at a time, there's no limit to how many subjects a student can register for. If a student wishes they can finish a particular qualification in its entirety (certificate level to Advanced Diploma stage) in a year!



Tuition resources



ABE online portal has wonderful resources that are indispensable to the success of the students in examinations. But a better news is that all these resources are free of charge, except a student needs the resources in hard copy, which they have to pay for. But that's really unnecessary.



Some of the resources you'll find on ABE site are: lecture guides, past questions and answers, specimen materials, syllabus, study manual and report on previous examinations. I like the last one (report on previous examinations) better. In this report observations on general students' performance are made by examiners followed by specific comment on each question.



The examiners discuss the weaknesses of students, the questions that were answered well, the ones that were not and how they should have answered them. With a report like this, I don't think it's possible for any student to fail these exams. But from what I've seen so far, not all the ABE students take advantage of these priceless resources.



Fees



For new students, there's a one time registration fee of 35 pounds for certificate, 50 pounds for Diploma and 150 pounds for Advanced Diploma. Subsequently, each examination a student registers for at Certificate level is 20 pounds, at Diploma level 25 pounds and at Advanced Diploma level 30 pounds.



On average, a student will spend N100,000 (one hundred thousand naira) to complete a chosen qualification from Certificate level to Advanced Diploma (degree equivalent) level. So with just N10 million, any northern state can support 100 students through this qualifications.



And these students are not going to be half baked as obtains in Nigeria but good, educated potential entrepreneurs. So ABE is one of the ways to go if the Northern governments are really serious about quality higher education for northerners. But are they? Are they not more concern about marrying other politicians' daughters?



For more information visit: www.abeuk.com