Kids make money, donate to charity
dubai — Kids as young as eight years are running successful businesses and making huge profits at a school in Dubai. The students of Next Generation School (NGS) in Barsha use a play currency invented by the school to teach their students about entrepreneurship, leadership and real-life experiences.
The school has a unique life skills programme and classroom economy system, where students have jobs and receive salaries in ‘NGS’ currencies.
The school has invented a play currency system to train the leadership qualities of students through real life situations. The students are required to pay monthly or yearly “desk rent” in order to sit inside the classrooms.
The salaries and rent depends on the grade of the students. Grade 1 students receive a salary of 40 NGS with a monthly rent of 10 NGS. Grade 2 students earn 60 to 80 NGS per month and have to pay a rent of 70 per month. The pattern follows all the way up to Grade 6, where students have a high salary of 800 to 1000 NGS per month. However, rent prices also go up with each grade level, as they pay a desk rent of 700 NGS per month.
“We try to mimic real life experiences through the programme,” the life-skills coordinator at NGS Pranti Zaveri, told Khaleej Times. “The main message is giving, saving and spending. We really want children to stress on charity, to give back to the community and how to budget and manage their finances. You have to connect what you are learning in class with real life.”
Real-seeming job adverts are placed inside classrooms and in hallways, which can be applied by students. Jobs such as bankers, custodians, teacher’s assistant, messenger, energy saver, line leader and recycler are available to the kids. After a student gets selected for the job, he or she is required to sign a job contract.
Business owners can operate their shops during the lunch break and customers can buy items only with NGS currencies. There are 150 student-run businesses at the school, ranging from baked goods, lemonade stands and jewellery.
Also, there are opportunities for students at the school to turn NGS money into real dirhams. A Grade 2 student, Saif Khaled Ramadan, saved up more than 1,000 NGS last year.
Known as “the richest kid in school”, Ramadan threw a party, where he charged his peers an entrance fees in dirhams. “I gave away half of my savings to charity,” said Ramadan, who was left with less than 400 NGS after contributing half of his wealth to charity.
Last year, the charity boxes placed around the schools totalled to 36,000 NGS , which equalled Dh5,000, and donated to the Dar Al Ber Society.
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com