THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The courtyard at Government Higher Secondary School, Marayamuttom in Thiruvananthapuram felt less like a campus and more like a community fair. On the long tables, rows of neatly labelled products caught the afternoon light. The items on sale included cleaning lotion, detergent, hand-wash liquid, incense sticks, organic soap, carry bags and eye candles.
Behind the counters stood its makers in uniform, their voices steady, their pitch confident. They were not rehearsing a classroom presentation. They were running a marketplace.
The Student Police Cadets (SPC) of the school have manufactured and marketed 10 socially driven products in what is being hailed as a first-of-its-kind initiative by a government school unit. For weeks, the cadets worked beyond school hours, learning basic production processes, designing labels, calculating costs and planning sales.
The result is a student-led brand that blends enterprise with empathy. What sets the initiative apart is not the product line, but the purpose behind it.
“A portion of the earnings, amounting to Rs 100 per month, is deposited into the post office accounts of the school’s 12 differently abled students,” said Saudeesh Thampi, Community Police Officer (teacher in-charge of the school’s SPC project).
The intention of the initiative is simple yet deeply humane. The students want their modest contribution to be a meaningful financial cushion that can support the beneficiaries’ continued education and medical needs after they leave school.
The environmental thread runs just as strongly through the project. In the weeks leading up to the market, students were encouraged to collect used plastic bottles from their homes and neighbourhoods and bring them to school.
In exchange, they received free cloth bags as part of a practical push toward reducing single-use plastic.
“The collected bottles are recycled and transformed into useful products, reinforcing lessons in responsible waste management,” said Bindu Rani, school principal. The school had earlier earned accolades for collecting over 2,500 books from the neighbourhood for their school library. The school SPCs also maintain a birthday kiosk, where students mark their special day by depositing new clothes for underprivileged classmates.
Visitors to the school market lingered not only to shop but to listen. Many praised the cadets’ entrepreneurial spirit and their sensitivity toward classmates who require additional support.
STUDENT-MADE PRODUCTS
‘Jeeva’ lotion
‘Venma’ detergent
‘Shuddhi’ hand wash
‘Red Rose’ premium agarbatti
‘Blossom’ organic soap
‘Clean and Clear’ dish wash
‘Wise’ chalk
Eco-friendly carry bag
Eye candle