Income Generating Activities
IGAs give PEAS students a chance to learn a vocational skill and provide extra income for schools.
PEAS currently has a number of IGAs running in schools and we are looking to set up more this year. Onwards & Upwards Secondary School not only has a bee-keeping facility but also produces Interlocking Stabilised Soil Bricks (ISSBs), which provides bricks to build classroom blocks across the PEAS school network.
Traditional fired bricks require a great deal of firewood and are very inefficient, making them a cause of grave environmental degradation through deforestation, air pollution and soil erosion. ISSBs involve a different process and are cured in the sun, rather than being fired, and so have a much smaller impact on the environment. The are stronger, more weatherproof and cost 20-30% less to produce. Find out how the pupils at Onwards & Upwards learned to make ISSBs here, or see UN Habitat's report here.
New IGAs in 2011
PEAS focuses on business ideas that can exploit the existence of the PEAS internal market, i.e. goods demanded by other PEAS schools. We also prefer socially or ecologically responsible enterprises. At the moment PEAS is considering the following IGAs for implementation in our schools:
Forestry: this scheme allows schools to plant trees on their land. This will bring dual benefit:; firstly, that the trees will produce wood for stoves and furniture; and secondly, that they will act as a positive move for the local environment.
Dairy/bio-gas production: this IGA would use cows to produce milk for students and bio-gas to be used as fuel, both for use by the school itself and for sale.
Tailoring: as with bricks, PEAS schools also have an internal market for school uniforms. Therefore, it makes sense to set this up as an IGA in at least one of our schools. PEAS schools require hundreds of uniforms for new students every year and this is a project that could generate a lot of revenue for a school, which could be then reinvested. Tailoring also teaches students a skill that could be very useful to them after they leave school and look for employment.
If you are interesting in funding new IGAs in our schools please get in touch through our form or contact Katie Whalley at katie.whalley@peas.org.uk or 0203 117 2496.