Hyderabad’s work-site schools bring education and safety to children of migrant workers

On a windy Friday afternoon, 37 children sat in a modest classroom at a labor camp in Narsingi; small slate boards were covered with the English alphabet scrawled in chalk. As they eagerly raised their hands, one by one, to recite their newly learned words, the rhythmic sounds of construction work continued a few meters away, while their parents worked on the high-rise towers reshaping Hyderabad’s skyline.

For these children, all under the age of 10, school is no longer something left behind as their families move from site to site. Instead the class came to them.

Launched in May, the labor field school at Rajapushpa labor camp is a collaboration between Cyberabad police, Telangana Education Department, Municipal Administration and the developer and currently has 53 students enrolled from Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Assam. Two more schools located on construction sites operated by Navanaami and BSR Developers in Narsingi are ready for inauguration; The commission aims to eventually expand the model to around 100 labor camps in Cyberabad.

Children spend nine hours in the classroom each day (8am to 5pm) learning English, Maths and Hindi, along with play time, social skills and supervised breaks. During lunch, the children sat in a circle on the floor and enjoyed the meal served on disposable plates.

Food was served to students at the site school in Narsingi during lunch hours. Photo: By arrangement

Outside, high-rise residential blocks rise up to 45 floors. But in the labor camp, families live in rows of makeshift blue shelters, often moving every few months to look for work. This constant movement disrupts children’s education, causing many to stay out of school altogether.

The class also addresses another pressing issue: the safety of children left unattended in labor camps. Earlier this year, a mason who raped and murdered a four-year-old girl was arrested at BSR labor colony in Puppalaguda while her parents were at the construction site. His body was found in bushes near a construction site. In separate cases this year, courts sentenced two men to life imprisonment and another worker to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting minor girls while their parents were not at work. Many other cases of violence, including drunken fights, have also been reported from labor camps in Hyderabad, increasing the safety risk of children.

“These workers come to Hyderabad with dreams of earning a better livelihood for their families. While they are here, it is our responsibility to ensure that their children are safe and have access to education,” Cyberabad Police Commissioner M. Ramesh said.

The last two months have been very fulfilling for Shabnam, the school’s teacher. “Every morning, after their parents went to work, I would see children wandering aimlessly around the camp. I started teaching a few of them unofficially because I wanted them to learn something. When this school opened, I finally got the opportunity to teach them all at once,” he said.

This job also gave him financial independence. Originally from Bihar, the Bachelor of Arts graduate earns ₹22,000 a month paid by the developer and his son also goes to the same class. Her husband works as a plumber in a housing project a few meters away.

For 10-year-old Shivam, school brought something equally valuable.

“I love coming here every day. We study, play and get homework, which my sister Nandini and I complete. Hindi is my favorite subject,” she said with a smile. “We used to stay mostly in the camp. Now we have friends and we learn something new every day.”

New toilets and a special playground are also being developed at the labor camp to improve the children’s learning environment. Three sets of school uniforms are also being prepared for each child as the classroom takes on the look and feel of a regular school.

It was published – 04 July 2026 08:11 IST