Hyderabad: Buoyed by the success of worksite schools where children of brick kiln workers get educated, the Rachakonda Police are planning to restart the schools this year.
The worksite schools are set up by the Rachakonda Police in collaboration with the Ranga Reddy district administration and voluntary organisations at Bhongir, Ibrahimpatnam, Maheshwaram, Medchal and other places around the city where there are brick kilns. The local police identify the areas where brick kiln units are set up and migrant workers turn up to work at the manufacturing units every year, while the higher officials finalise the locations where the schools are to be set up.
Migrant workers from Odisha bring along their children when they come to the State in January to work in the brick kilns for a period of five months before heading back to their native places.
“During their stay in Telangana, the children were found working along with their parents or idling around. So to keep them away from work, we introduced the worksite school concept three years ago and since then, have successfully been running them,” Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat said.
A notable feature of the schools is that the medium of instruction is Odia. “A voluntary organisation came forward and is taking care of arranging the teachers who are familiar with the language. With the efforts of the police and Ranga Reddy district administration, the schools are doing well,” the Commissioner said.
When the children return to Odisha, they can continue their education in the schools there as they are issued a certificate which is recognised in their State.
“At the worksite schools, so far 2,300 children were provided education and we hope to enroll around 500 this year,” Bhagwat said, adding that the district administration was providing mid-day meals for the children in the schools. Regular health check-ups of the children is also organised by the administration. The National Commission of Protection of Child Rights during its recent visit had appreciated the concept of the schools.
The Rachakonda Police came up with the concept of setting up worksite schools after noticing the children engaged in work at the brick kilns along with their parents in absence of a facility to continue their education when they migrate from Odhisa to here.