Teachers sell snacks to beat money crunch

Ten teachers of Aum Shanti Vidyalay in Morbi get together to prepare and sell farsan after school is unable to pay them salaries; principal provides them space to cook and money to buy raw materials

By Nischal Sanghavi

The pandemic-induced lockdown has caused economic hardships to a large number of people. Those who have readapted to the changed situation have been able to survive these tough times. With schools closed and fees becoming a contentious issue, school managements are paying partially or delaying payment to teachers and staff.

A Morbi school named Aum Shanti Vidyalay has been unable to pay salaries to teachers and staff with students not having paid the fees. To overcome the financial crisis, teachers of the school have set up a small business of preparing and selling snacks.

Sanjay Viradia, principal of the school said, “With students not paying fees, it is difficult for the school management to pay salaries of teachers and staff. The school has around 100 staff members and 1,800 to 1,900 students currently. Salaries have been paid till June, after which the school management has been unable to pay the staff.”

With their source of income drying up, a group of teachers decided to find a way out of the situation. Vanita Patel, one of the teachers, said, “Since there is a good demand for savouries in Gujarati families during the festival, we decided to start preparing farsan (snacks) and sell them.”

Ten teachers have already joined the group. When they met the school trustee to inform him of the decision, the trustee offered them the school kitchen and classroom to use for free, so they need not spend money on rent. “Our principal also lent us Rs 15,000 to buy raw materials. He has asked us to return the money only after we have earned enough money for ourselves,” said Patel.

The 10 teachers teach in primary school and most of them have a BEd degree. Patel is a commerce graduate and has a diploma in elementary education. Jaswant Mirani who is part of the group that got together for the venture said, “It has been just four days, but we are already getting orders of 15 kg per day. We have been preparing and selling 10 types of snacks, including gathiya, puri and sev, besides theplas.”

Their next plan is to also prepare and sell sweets like mohanthal. As per Mirani, this has inspired other teachers also to adapt alternate businesses. While one male teacher has started agarbati (incense sticks) business, another is selling sanitisers.

“This might not seem respectable as a teacher’s profession, but in these times, adapting oneself to the changed situation and surviving is the best option,” sums up Viradia.