Students of 6 and 7 grades took on the roles of young entrepreneurs — selling homemade lip balms, skin care products, candies, and interactive games, among other items — at the Entrepreneurship Bazar, an event held on Friday at the Foundation Public School’s (FPS) DHA Campus in Karachi.

The initiative promoted the creativity, innovation and business acumen of students, as they displayed their entrepreneurial skills by developing, marketing and selling their own products and services.

According to the FPS, the event aligned with its “mission to foster 21st-century skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and financial literacy” among students.

Speaking to Dawn.com, subject instructor and event coordinator Sara Owais said: “The event was a part of the entrepreneurship course, incorporated in the academic curriculum to help students gain hands-on experience in business skills.”

Held at the school’s courtyard, the colourful event featured young entrepreneurs aged 11 to 13, who set up stalls to sell their products made after months of hard work.

One of the many stalls was ‘Glossify’, adorned with fairy lights, headed by students Batool and Hiba. It displayed a range of neatly packaged homemade skin care products, including lip balms and scrubs.

“Our lip balm, available for only Rs350, is made with beetroot, glycerin, fruit essence, and, of course, glitter,” explained Hiba.

A little further away from Batool and Hiba, towards the centre of the hall, stood Muhammad Bilal, a student of grade 6, who was on the lookout for potential customers for his pasta shop, ‘The Pasta House’.

Three kids stood at the stall with Bilal, wearing hairnets, and serving homemade pasta to the customers.

“We encouraged the kids to create their own brands, taught them how they can market their products, and identify a target audience,” said Owais, as she appreciated the hard work her students put in to make the event a success.

“In today’s fast-paced world, we need people who think out of the box”, she remarked while stressing the need for creative thinking. “The students were given complete ownership of the projects.”

Another student duo, Abdul Hadi and Rayan, set up a stall to showcase their coding-based product. With a laptop set atop their stall, the two had developed three computer games. Winning the games came with the reward of a Korean-style dalgona candy, flavoured with Rooh Afza for a local touch.

“We call ourselves the Dalgona Deciders,” Hadi and Rayan told Dawn.com. The duo, which had been friends for the last two years, attributed the project’s success to their “clear communication”.

Rayan’s father Nadeem Javed, who had come to the event to support his son’s project, praised the school for the initiative and said, “I have always encouraged my child to take risks.”

Ujala Mansoor Syed, the school’s principal, underscored the need for encouraging students to take initiative instead of pampering them too much.

“Until they have a master’s or bachelor’s degree, our children are not expected to learn the value of money”, she said while emphasising the need for teaching skills to value and manage money from a young age.

Speaking about the event, she said she hoped it would inspire other schools to adopt similar experiential learning opportunities.

“[I hope such initiatives will also allow schools] to highlight the importance of entrepreneurial education in shaping future-ready citizens.”