Teacher questions ban on student hustlers

A teacher is questioning whether schools are sending mixed messages to students by preaching entrepreneurship while punishing youngsters who sell items on the compound.

The educator, who teaches at a prominent Corporate Area high school, said students are increasingly finding creative ways to earn money, selling everything from sweets, chips and juice to baked goods, bracelets, stationery and other accessories. While there does not appear to be a national ban prohibiting students from operating small businesses at school, individual institutions have enforced no-vending rules. As far back as 2014, the education ministry said it was working to regulate illegal vending on and around school compounds, describing unregulated vending as a potential health and security hazard.

The teacher believes an outright prohibition on students selling ordinary items can overlook both the business skills they are developing and, in some cases, the difficult circumstances driving them to sell.

“We tell children to become entrepreneurs, create opportunities and don’t wait on somebody to employ them. Then a child identifies a market right in front of them and our immediate response is, ‘You can’t do that’. I think that’s worth examining,” he said.

“I understand why the rule exists, but as a teacher, when I see a child buys a box of snacks for $1,500 and figures out how to turn that into $2,500, I don’t just see somebody breaking a school rule. I see initiative. I see a child thinking about money, profit and independence at an early age.”

According to the educator, some students have developed surprisingly sophisticated systems for managing their small businesses. He recalled one student who kept track of expenses, earnings and the amount that needed to be reinvested in stock.

“They weren’t just spending everything they earned. When you hear a teenager talking about putting aside money to buy the next set of stock, you realise they’re learning something,” he said.

But for some students, he said, the hustle is about far more than having extra spending money.

“I have met students who actually need the money, and that’s where it becomes difficult for me,” he said. “Sometimes you learn that the money is helping them buy lunch or take the bus home.”

“Rules are rules, yes, but I find it hard to look at a 14-year-old whose mother has been in the hospital since last school term, and it has just been a struggle for his father taking care of three children, and confiscate the very thing that is keeping him or her going,” he added.

He said some children never openly disclose the financial difficulties they face, and teachers may only discover what is happening after observing them and checking in privately.

“I would rather them sell here within the walls of this school than to go out begging strangers or, worse, wiping windscreens,” he said. Still, the teacher stressed that despite supporting student entrepreneurship he will never tell a child to disregard the rules.

“At the same time, I might be thinking, ‘You actually have a good little business here’. So my conversation with that student would be: I like what you’re trying to do, but there has to be an appropriate way to do it,” he said.

There are times, however, when the teacher finds his own way to support student’s efforts.

“There are times I’ll see a child with an entire box of Jell-O or chocolate and I purchase them and, in return, give it back to students who did well in a session,” he said. However, selling during lessons is where he draws the line.

“Entrepreneurship shouldn’t come at the expense of your education,” he reasoned.

He also acknowledged that allowing students to sell freely could create unfair competition for school canteens and authorised vendors.

“That’s why I won’t advocate a free-for-all. There would have to be rules about what students can sell, where and when.”

Instead, the educator wants schools to consider regulated entrepreneurship programmes in which students register, obtain parental permission and are permitted to sell approved products during designated periods. He suggested that schools could even hold business days once or twice each month, requiring participating students to record their expenses, revenue and profits.