Night schools in Mumbai are lifelines for domestic workers, gig workers, and delivery staff who return to classrooms after exhausting workdays, driven by pride, self-respect, and hope for a better future
Working adults write exams at a Goregaon night school, balancing jobs, family responsibilities, and studies
Night schools often attract working professionals who carve out time for academics to move up the career ladder. But for many adult learners, returning to school is driven as much by emotion as ambition, especially the weight carried by a Std X or XII board certificate.
Rajesh Sawant, 41, left his education early to take up work and later joined a political party. “As a young adult, I never thought education was important and kept hopping between jobs. When the world started changing, I didn’t realise how crucial education would become,” he said. Now preparing for his Std XII exams, Sawant hopes to complete his schooling before his daughter, currently in first grade, reaches Std X.
Students attend evening classes at Shree Saraswati Night High School and Junior College in Goregaon after finishing their workday
With work, financial pressures, and family responsibilities occupying their daytime hours, many like Sawant are preparing for the Std X and XII Maharashtra board examinations through night schools. After finishing their jobs, students gather at Shree Saraswati Night High School and Junior College in Goregaon between 6.30 pm and 9.30 pm.
In a Std X classroom, a 50-year-old mother of two said she enrolled simply to prove a point. “I work as a full-time domestic helper in South Mumbai. I had taken my Std X CBSE exams years ago, but the certificate was misplaced. My children think their mother never completed school,” she told mid-day.
Rajesh Sawant, 41, (right) prepares for his Std XII board exams through a night school. Pics/Aditi Arulkar
Without informing her family, she now travels daily from Thane to South Mumbai for work and then to Goregaon in the evenings to attend the Kannada-medium school. Finishing classes by 9.30 pm, she rushes back home. “I heard about this night school on the train and decided to take up the challenge. The teachers are very approachable, which is why I have continued,” she said.
Others, like 24-year-old Mahadev Galfade, were forced to abandon education due to circumstances. Galfade dropped out in Std IV after his father’s death, with his mother becoming the sole breadwinner. He worked at food stalls, in households, and as a daily wage labourer to help pay rent. Today, he works as a gig worker. “I once worked as a staffer at a college and saw people my age finishing Std XII. They kept asking me about my qualifications. That’s when I decided I would complete my education someday,” he said. “I know the marks may not change my life much, but it feels good to be counted among the educated.”
Mahadev Galfade, 24, a gig worker, has returned to school after dropping out in Std IV due to family circumstances
His friend Rahul Rathod, 22, shares a similar journey. As the eldest sibling facing family troubles, Rathod left school in Std IX to take up delivery jobs. With his family’s situation improving, he has returned to studies. “I now work as an IT staffer and data entry operator. I hope education helps me move up professionally,” Rathod said.
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