Fairtrade has a huge network of schools all over the world with more than 1,000 registered Fairtrade Schools in just the UK and over 500 Fairtrade Schools in Germany; and now Vidyashilp is the new name added to the Fairtrade family. Fairtrade is targeting at least 50 more such schools in India in next one year. The environment at the school gives the feel and passion for being a responsible person right from the beginning. Four years ago, Fairtrade India launched a Fairtrade Pilot School Programme in India with the idea of teaching young people that howsoever insurmountable a problem might seem, they can be changemakers. The purpose was to make the next generation more aware about the farming crisis in India and of the power, that everyone has as consumers to empower the people in the food and fashion supply chains.
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Vidyashilp Academy has been a Fairtrade Pilot School, since 2016 and has been pioneering the Fairtrade School Programme in India. The students understand the concept of Fairtrade through classroom teaching and are participating in many engaging activities over the years.
Vidyashilp Academy has on various occasions organised slogan writing competitions, drawing competitions, tuck shops to sell Fairtrade certified products, besides other such engaging activities. The school decided to source uniforms through Fairtrade certified supply chains and the T-shirts in these uniforms have the Fairtrade Mark on them, so both the school and the user know that there has been no social and environmental exploitation in making of these T-shirts. The farmers in Gujarat from Suminter India Organics, who grew cotton for the uniforms, had access to a fair
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The Fairtrade network engages with many farmers and workers all over the world to ensure they have access to better prices, fair wages, better soil-waterwaste management techniques, training on reducing the use of harmful chemicals, and how to deal with climate change. Farmers additionally have access to a Fairtrade Premium for community and economic development projects. |
price for their produce; the garment factory workers in Mercer Apparels, Tirupur had access to decent working conditions and the students in Bangalore are going to school in Fairtrade uniforms, a very sustainable supply chain.
Now, that the school has completed its commitment of reasonable sourcing from Fair Trade associated farmers and has officially been declared a Fairtrade School, the school celebrated this achievement. There were two-week long activities to commensurate the occasion. A Fairtrade Cotton farmer from Soundarya Farmers Producer Company, Gujarat, Sarvaiya Pravinkumar Nagajibhai, and his family was also part of these activities. The oldest of his three children, Divyaben Pravinbhai, has received a scholarship through the Fairtrade premium to pursue her higher education and has gone ahead
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