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| Sunday, 21 September 2003 |
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Business |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Needed: a Home Economics base for mothers, wives, career women by CAROL ALOYSIUS A former woman entrepreneur is currently leading a campaign to bring back Home Science to the school curriculum as a separate subject. She is convinced that it will empower school leavers especially girls, with skills that will make them better wives, better mothers and successful entrepreneurs as well. "When I was a schoolgirl, it was a common practice to teach Home Science to students from Grade 1 upwards starting with basic lessons in needlework and handwork, progressing to more advanced lessons in the higher classes. Students who opted to enter the Home Science stream went through a very comprehensive course in Home Economics which included subjects such as cookery, housekeeping, baby care, nursing and first aid. The end result was that all of us who did this course had adequate know-how not only to be good wives and mothers, but even start and run our own businesses," says business woman and Secretary of the Home Science Teachers Association, Veronica Surangani Madawela. Madawela should know what she is talking about. A mother of two, and a member of the Association of Business and Professional Women, she was also, until recently, a household name in top quality pickles, jams and cordials, when her products made their way to over 750 local markets and several overseas markets. As she points out, "It was my training in Home Economics as a schoolgirl at Hillwood College, Kandy that prepared me for marriage and motherhood and also helped me to start my own business". A hosteller while at school, she recalls having watched with great interest, her hostel matron preparing lime pickle for the hostellers. "She would (with our help sometimes), cut the limes in halves, fill them with salt and leave them to dry in the school compound under a spreading tree. Later she would add other condiments and put them in a huge jar to be served to us at meal times. It was the most delicious lime pickle I had ever tasted. I decided that someday, I too would make my own lime pickles and even sell them." This determination finally saw Madawela's dream come true several years later. "I began to seriously consider starting some business of my own only after my first child was born, to supplement the family budget. I started with papadams, having got a loan of Rs 3,000 from a close relative. When that failed, I began my pickle business which was a success from the beginning," she told the Sunday Observer. So how did her knowledge of Home Science help her? "Cookery was my forte and I loved it. So I naturally chose the food industry as a career. I remember drawing on everything I had learnt as a Home Science student to make my business a success. We had learnt that artificial preservatives were bad for the health. So I avoided using any artificial preservatives in my products. We had also been taught to use home grown or locally available fresh raw material and to wash and clean them thoroughly to prevent contamination. I also applied my lessons on personal hygiene to both myself and all my employees to ensure that the food we made was hygienic. This is probably why my products were so popular," she says. Hygiene, health science, needlecraft, home management and cookery among other things were part of the syllabus that Madawela remembers being taught when she entered the Home Science stream at Grade 9 in the sixties. As she reiterates, "These are subjects that every woman should know if she wants to be a good wife and mother, a stay-at-home housewife or a career woman. The skills she gains from studying such subjects will give her confidence to run and manage her own home - and start a business as well, even operating it from her own home". Which is exactly what this business woman did, literally operating her business from her kitchen! To ensure that she was around to personally attend to her family's needs and her children, she says she decided to transform the family kitchen into a mini 'factory' from 8.00 in the morning till 5.00 in the evening after she has completed the kitchen chores for her family. Young mothers "That was when I was producing over a hundred bottles of pickles and cordials a day to some 750 local shops. Then I had 12 persons, 99 per cent of them women, young mothers with children who needed the extra cash. They would drop off their kids at a pre-school and bring them back to my house to be changed and fed until they were ready to take them home at evening". Today, although she no longer handles big orders, she still produces a small quantity of her delicious pickles and cordials for limited circulation, mostly among friends, she says. Whether in purchasing the raw material for her products ("I always go for the freshest fruits and ingredients") or in balancing her figures at the end of the day, or just being a good mother and wife, this Domestic Science teacher turned business woman is convinced that the secret to her success as a wife, mother and business woman is largely due to the basic foundation in Home Economics she had in school. Besides, it could also help push-start a successful self-owned business for a housewife in need of an extra income. "If a girl wants to earn her own income, even after marriage, she can draw on her skills to start her own dress academy; conduct cookery lessons at home; start a food manufacturing business, operating from home if she wishes; use her knowledge of first aid to follow a nursing career; or set up a pre-school or creche if she is familiar with child care", she explains. Not systematically taught "The sky is the limit for a Home Science student. Unfortunately, Home Science is no longer taught systematically as a separate subject in our schools. Instead, various aspects of the subject are included along with other subjects and taught in a haphazard way", she laments. It is not surprising that as Secretary of the Home Science Teachers Association, this versatile business woman is thus currently spearheading a campaign to bring back Home Science to schools and create an awareness among parents, students and curriculum planners to give priority to this subject by conducting workshops and seminars via her organisation. As she reiterates, "You do not need a university degree or become a doctor or engineer to have a successful career. A thorough learning in Home Economics from school days will provide the ideal launch pad to become an entrepreneur par excellence". |
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