Shangri-La International School - Details of the project
- Name of the project
- Shangri-La International School
- Location of the Project
- Chapagaon /Techo - 8 km from Kathmandu, at the edge of the Kathmandu-Valley
- Aims of the Project
- to ensure pedagogical support for:
- our 51 orphans
- 100 children from poor and leprosy families free of charge
- erection of the pedagogical institute to provide planned village schools in West Nepal with trained teachers.
- Economic and social backgrounds
- to reduce the overhead expenses of the Shangri-La orphanage by 40%.
- to ensure a satisfactory school education for:
- our 51 children in the orphanage
- 100 children from poor and leprosy families
- to give support in the field education in West Nepal (with 85% the highest illiteracy rate in the country) through the completion of a pedagogical institute for the training of teachers from and for the village schools of West Nepal.
- Environmental aspects
- owing to the quality of the education in the Shangri-La International School, families who previously drove their children 10 km every day to a comparable institution in Kathmandu, will now use the local school.
- as part of their education the children will receive lessons in environmental agriculture and sustained treatment of nature. By extending the school´s curriculum, the children will also receive lessons in environmental science, sociology, political development, philosophy, astronomy and in our computer training centre.
- Background to the political development
- to cover 40% of the project´s costs, using the school fee´s from 350 children from wealthier families in the region.
- a future aim will be the counteraction of urbanism and its results, by the setting up of further projects in rural areas of West Nepal
- with the close contact to the rural population, a familiarization with their own cultural and social identity will be secured for the 500 school children
- Microscopes and a computer training center with 9 connected PCs are highlights of the school equipment which is above-average compared to Nepalese standards. Modern and interesting lessons are ensured and are exemplary for Nepal.
- Political background
- the fighting between government troops and Maoist guerrillas has caused a tense political situation in Nepal. A revolutionary situation in the capital city is also possible at anytime.
- with the help of the International School, financial resources will be created, which would avoid a complete deprivation of revenue for the project, should a political crisis occur.
- State Schools versus Boarding Schools
- the initiators are aware of the split in the society by the introduction of boarding schools. However, with the completion of a pedagogical institute, the building of the International School has the explicit aim of furthering the organisation of state schools in West Nepal.
- a further aspect is that the International School, where 150 children out of the poorest living conditions in the land gain access to a qualified education free of charge, counteracts just this social discrepancy on the local level. Something that ought to be made known as a good example in the social surroundings of the school.
- in spite of the financial deficit in the construction of the International School, the building of a state school in Neopane began in January 2001 and will be completed in June 2001. A satisfactory education for 540 school children, free of charge, will then be made possible.
- joint computer courses in the orphanage (located just 200 metres from the school) will promote the contact between the school children in this school and orphans.