Three years ago, the children of daily-wage workers at a Rohini construction site had no access to school. Today, 200 of them attend CVF's Samridhi Apna School just minutes from where they live — and the transformation has been nothing short of extraordinary.
It started with a simple observation. In 2021, a CVF field worker noticed a group of children playing in the mud outside a construction site in North-West Delhi. It was 10 AM on a Tuesday. They should have been in school. But for the children of migrant construction workers — who move from site to site every few months — school is rarely a realistic option.
"We asked the parents why the children were not in school," recalls Vishal Singh, CVF's founder. "The answers were always the same. They move too often. The schools don't accept children without documents. No one will mind the younger children while the older ones study. The school is too far. It costs too much."
Finding the space, then the students
CVF approached the construction company managing the site and negotiated the use of a shaded area at the corner of the compound — a space that had previously been used to store cement bags. Within two weeks, a rough classroom had taken shape: a tarpaulin roof, plastic mats on the ground, a blackboard borrowed from a nearby NGO, and a handful of donated books.
Enrolment was harder than expected. Many parents were sceptical. Some worried about losing the informal income their older children brought in by running errands on the site. Others simply didn't see the point — they had moved too many times for school to ever stick.
A CVF teacher runs the morning session at Samridhi Apna School. All classes are free, and no documents are required for enrolment.
The breakthrough came when CVF decided to offer a meal. A simple mid-morning tiffin — dal, rice, and a piece of fruit — provided by a local women's self-help group. Enrolment jumped from 12 children to 47 in the first three weeks after the meal programme began.
"My son used to follow me to work every day. He would sit in the dirt and watch. Now he comes home and teaches me the alphabet. I do not have words for what that feels like."— Ramkali Devi, Parent · Construction worker, Rohini site
What the school looks like today
Samridhi Apna School now runs two shifts — morning and afternoon — six days a week. The 200 enrolled children range from age 4 to 14. Three full-time teachers and two part-time volunteers manage the classes, which are sorted by learning level rather than age, since many older children are starting from scratch.
The curriculum covers Hindi, English, Mathematics, and basic science. CVF also runs a weekly life-skills session that covers hygiene, safety, and — crucially — awareness of child rights. Many of the children who attend Samridhi Apna School have been subsequently enrolled in government schools once their families settled in a location long enough to establish residency.
The challenges that remain
The school is not without its difficulties. Attendance fluctuates when construction projects end and families move on. The rainy season disrupts the open-air classroom. Teacher retention has been a constant challenge — qualified teachers are hard to find for the salary CVF can afford. And the fundamental problem — that migrant children have no mechanism to maintain a continuous school record as families relocate — remains unsolved at a policy level.
CVF is currently working with Delhi Legal Services Authority on an advocacy initiative to create a transferable school enrolment card for migrant children — a document that would allow a child's learning record to follow them from site to site, and be recognised by any government school in the country.
What you can do
Samridhi Apna School runs on a budget of approximately ₹18,000 per month — covering teacher salaries, meals, materials, and maintenance. A donation of ₹1,500 covers one child's education and meals for an entire month. Corporate CSR partnerships are also open — write to us at info@cvfindia.org to explore how your organisation can get involved.
