School takes step to make its students financially self-reliant

In a unique entrepreneurship project, Barisha Janakalyan Vidyapith for Girls in Behala has shown the way to its students to be self-reliant by making them churn out a plethora of handmade items on their own and providing them a platform for selling these.

The school authorities have provided a token amount to the students of each class – from class V till XI and then have hand holded them to make various handmade items.

With the consent of the guardians and the managing committee, they have been made to sign a contract paper on November 16 last year, that the token amount that has been provided to them will be returned back to the school authorities through the sale proceeds of the handmade items.

A series of meetings were held with guardians and managing committee since July who gave the school authorities the nod for taking the idea forward.“We are organising a two-day Janakalyan Silpa Udyog Mela at our own school ground on January 25 and 26 where the students can sell their own products. As per contract, they will have to return the amount provided to them through the sale proceeds and the extra money will go in their own pockets,” a senior teacher of the school said.

Majority of the 250 odd students of the school are first generation learners. “After COVID-19 pandemic, we had witnessed lack of enthusiasm among them. We realised that for retention of these girls in school, we need to do something innovative to boost their confidence level. In July, last year we came out with an idea of making them self-reliant and at the same time inculcate a business mindset which will be a big morale booster for them and at the same time revive their interest in studies,” Sharmila Sengupta, headmistress of the school said.