Pupils recount ordeals of hawking in school to assist parents

Some public school pupils in Bwari Area Council of FCT have narrated the ordeals they pass through in the course of selling goods in school to support their parents.

The pupils, in separate interviews with the newsmen in Abuja, said they were aware the act was illegal but had no choice.

Hafsat Bello, a primary four pupil, told newsmen that she lives in Kuchiko community in Bwari and has to walk several kilometers to a public school in Bwari town to sell groundnuts and a few other items.

“I sell groundnuts, sesame seeds, and buns worth more than 2,000 to my classmates at break time in school.

“I do that to be able to save money for my upkeep and to assist my parents who can hardly meet our demands these days.

“We are praying for a better future when things will be cheaper and our parents will be able to make enough money selling their farm produce,’’ she said.

Bello added that she learned to be an enterprising person from her parents who are farmers.

According to her, her parents always take some of their produce to the market to sell after harvest to be able to make some income.

She also said that she always walked to school alongside other friends and classmates and that while on the way to school, she sold her items on the way.

“Sometimes I am lucky enough to sell everything I left home with. On some other days, I sell on credit so that I don’t have to return home with unsold items,” she stated.

“I love school. And I hope never to drop out of it for any reason.

“I believe that God will give me the grace to go to a tertiary institution someday and work in a reputable outfit in the future,“ Bello said.

Speaking with newsmen, Beatrice Amos, a primary five pupil, also said that she sold ‘puff-puff’ and egg rolls to support her mother’s business.

Amos also noted that she helped her mother supply the snacks to other shops and food outlets in the town first thing every morning before taking some to school to sell.

This, she said is to support her parents in putting food on the table and to save enough money to support her education.

“It is not something I wish to continue doing in life. I admire others who don’t have to do what I do to get the luxury of life.

“I have learned from my mother how life challenges can make you strong and how you need to be determined to succeed.

“When I’m not in school, I and my siblings sit in my mother’s shop and help her sell cold drinks too,’’ she said.

Amos said all these do not stop her from focusing on her studies.

“ I read at home after my chores and my parents support me and ensure that I don’t miss studies at all. At the end of each term, my results come out good which makes them proud,” she said.

She also said that it was better for her to combine both school and business rather than being out of school.

Amos also prayed that someday, she would successfully gain a scholarship to a good school and finish her entire education to help her “trying parents”.

Mrs Theresa Okafor, a school proprietor and education consultant reiterated the need for children to be educated for a safe and stable future.

Okafor said children needed continuous development physically, mentally, and emotionally.

She said most schoolchildren find themselves hawking items in school or on the streets because of poverty, a common factor in rural communities.

“Lack of access to quality education among the poor and even the resources to cater for them is the most responsible for these children’s actions. So much is lacking.

“The International Labor Organisation ( ILO) Convention No. 182 requires governments to give priority to eliminating the worst forms of child labour undertaken by all children under the age of 18 years.

“Unfortunately, we still find this increasing in our societies today and it all boils down to the level of poverty eating our people.

“I pray that we would be able to at least, meet up with global standards someday.

“This is by putting more efforts to ensuring children especially the rural communities, remain in school and do not have to labour, ” Okafor said.