In a special graduation of sorts, over 750 children from Odisha bid a tearful, yet hopeful goodbye to Hyderabad as they graduated from different classes in the worksite schools of Rachakonda.
On Wednesday, Rachakonda Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat along with Umi Daniel, Director of Migration and Education of the NGO Aide et Action International, called upon 50 children from the nine schools and asked them to share their experience.

These children from various villages of Odisha make their way to Hyderabad accompanying their parents who are part of the brick kiln industry, every year. However, considering the seasonality of the work, they are here in the city for only six months, forcing them to drop out. It was for this reason that worksite schools, which are in Odiya medium, were started in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district.

This will be the third batch of Odiya migrants graduating from these makeshift transit schools and going back to pursue further education from their native villages. “We will be handing out a certificate along with a postcard which has to be handed over to the headmaster in source State for admission. Once the headmaster receives the postcard, he sends the same back to Hyderabad authorities wetting by the fact that the children have been re-enrolled. This ensures no one drops out,” noted Bikshapathi, Project Coordinator for Aide Et Action.

For this batch, it has been an exciting year after the children got a chance to watch the IPL match live in Uppal Stadium. The children were also taken to Infosys campus in Pocharam for an exposure trip.As a goodbye gift, the police commissionerate also sponsored over 750 pairs of slippers for all the kids who attended the worksite schools, since many of them had the practice of walking barefoot.