Workplace schools in Hyderabad 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, their small slate boards covered with the English alphabet scrawled with chalk. One by one, they eagerly raised their hands to read the words they had just learned, while a few meters away, the rhythmic sounds of construction work continued as their parents worked on the high-rise towers that reshaped the Hyderabad skyline.

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

In May, 37 students were launched, receiving a first-of-its-kind education at the Narsingi Labor Camp. | Photo credit: Lavpreet Kaur

Launched in May, the workplace school at the Rajapushpa labor camp is a collaboration between the Cyberabad Police, the Telangana Education Department, the city administration and the developer, and currently has 53 students enrolled from Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Assam. Two more schools on constructions run by Navanaami and BSR Developers in Narsingi are all set to be inaugurated, with the Commission aiming to eventually expand the model to around 100 work camps across Cyberabad.

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

Students served food at lunch time at Narsingi Vocational School. Photo: By agreement

Outside, residential blocks rise up to 45 stories high. Inside the labor camp, however, families live in rows of temporary blue shelters, often moving every few months for work. This constant movement disrupts children’s education and many of them drop out of school altogether.

The class also addresses another pressing concern: the safety of children left unattended in labor camps. Earlier this year, a mason was arrested at the BSR labor colony in Puppalaguda for raping and murdering a four-year-old girl while her parents were at the construction site. Her body was found in bushes near a construction site. In separate cases this year, courts sentenced two men to life in prison and another laborer to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting underage girls while their parents were away at work. Several other incidents of violence, including drunken brawls, have also been reported from labor camps in Hyderabad, adding to the safety risk for children.

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

The past two months have been fulfilling for Shabnam, a school teacher. “Every morning, after their parents left for work, I saw the children wandering aimlessly around the camp. I started tutoring a few of them informally because I wanted them to learn something. When this school opened, I finally had the opportunity to teach them all together,” she said.

The job also gave her financial independence. Originally from Bihar, the Bachelor of Arts graduate earns ₹22,000 per month paid by the developer while her son also attends the same classroom. Her husband works as a plumber in a residential 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 that my sister Nandini and I complete. Hindi is my favorite subject,” he said with a smile. “Before, we mostly stayed at the camp. Now we have friends and learn something new every day.”

The work camp is also developing new washrooms and a dedicated playground to improve the learning environment for the children. Three sets of school uniforms are also prepared for each child as the classroom takes on the look and feel of a regular school.

Published – 04 Jul 2026 08:11 IST