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Education for 13,000 Children in the High Himalaya
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Summary
Providing primary education for 13,000 ethnic Tibetan children living in poverty in one of the most isolated and extreme environments in the world: above 10,000 ft in the Indian Himalayas.
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Received $1,645 from 24 donations from people like:
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More Information About this Project
Project Needs and Beneficiaries
Children have to walk miles to reach an ill-equipped classroom, without heating or electricity in temperatures as low as -40C, & typically with an absentee teacher. The curriculum is based on things from plains-India and irrelevant to the children’s mountain lives. It is also in Hindi or English rather than their mother-tongue. Consequently literacy levels range from 0%-40%, the drop-out rate 48%, & communities remain trapped in poverty. 13,000 children across 600 villages will benefit.
Activities
Establish 136 Supplementary Schools, 5 Resource Centers and 17 Resource Libraries, and train 272 local teachers. 38 of the Supplementary Schools in the most remote villages will be provided with solar energy to ensure heating and power.
Funding Information
Total Funding Received to Date: $1,635
Remaining Goal to be Funded: $69,897
Total Funding Goal: $71,532
Additional Documentation
This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Word file (projdoc.doc).
Resources
Why this Project is Important
Potential Long Term Impact
Children in the High Himalayas all have access to high quality primary education; girls equally to boys. The community recognizes the value of culturally relevant education that gives them livelihoods opportunities; reducing poverty.
Project Message
In the summer my parents are farming and I have to look after my brothers and sisters so i can't go to school.In the winter it's too far to walk in the snow to the school so my parents won't let me go
- Tsering, age 8, Demul village, Spiti, A girl benefiting from the supplementary school
When this Project was Updated
Last Updated
This project was last updated on May 14, 2008.
Date Added to GlobalGiving
This project was added to the GlobalGiving project catalog on December 13, 2007.
Latest Update from the Field
Trucking in the Himalayas
By Dryan Kitchener - Project Update May 08, May 14, 2008 05:05 PM
Working in the high altitude Himalayas is more precarious than most other areas. Weather patterns limit project implementation to 6-8 months per year, as these areas are cut off by heavy snows during the winter months. In addition, global warming is causing weather patterns to change. This has meant that in April work has been slower than expected due to unseasonable weather, such as heavy rainfall in the Western Himalayas, and snowfall in the Eastern Himalayas.
The target for the Himalayan Education project this year is to establish 87 schools in remote villages, in addition to the 49 set up last year. So far 63 villages have been mobilized for school establishment and community buildings selected for the school. In 36 villages Village Education Committees have been set up of prominent community members and these have been trained in their roles: raising awareness of education in the village, maintaining the standards of the school, ensuring girl and disabled children are going to school.
While this work continues in the mountains, at the head offices in Gurgaon (close to Delhi) procurement of education materials and furniture for the 87 schools is under way. Over the next few months these will be trucked out to the remote villages. Our partner has learned from last year's experience of sending trucks out with the supplies, but them not arriving for weeks or months, since some drivers got lost and some found it was a nice opportunity to take in the scenery. This year project staff will be traveling with the drivers to make sure they get to their destination as quickly as they can - sight-seeing can be done afterwards!
Also in the Head Office, much work is being done to develop a curriculum that this culturally and environmentally appropriate to the Himalayas. It is hoped that this will be a key factor in building the confidence of Himalayan people, and result in greater education attainment since children will have greater interest in learning, rather than feeling defeated by a complex curriculum which isn't in their native language and is inappropriate to their lifestyles. To complement this, work is being done to develop vocational training courses to diversify livelihood options and provide alternatives to subsistence farming. These courses include eco-tourism, local crafts production, food and dairy processing, electronics, photography, among others.
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