TARGET
A modern and competitive education for the Tibetan children of the Dongche school guaranteed in respect of cultural identity in a healthy and appropriate context.
WHERE THE PROJECT TAKES PLACE
ASIA built the Dongche school more than twenty years ago and in all these years the collaboration with the local community has developed uninterruptedly.
The school was inaugurated in 1997 and has 6 classes, from first grade to sixth grade, in addition to the kindergarten. All subjects are taught in Tibetan, with the exception of mathematics and the Chinese language.
There are currently over 200 students and 30 teachers and support staff.
The school principal and teachers work in close coordination with the Department of Education (DoE) of Guide County, the institutional body that deals with educational policies in the territories of the entire county.
WHY WE ACT IN THIS AREA
In recent years, the difficulties that teachers and the local community have to face in order to keep their cultural identity alive and to do so are implemented various activities by the school.
All students wear traditional Tibetan clothing; Traditional songs and dances are regularly practiced and every year celebrations and dances are organized in which all Tibetans of the area participate.
A large library with modern Tibetan, English and Chinese texts was built inside the school building. In addition, there are many Tibetan books related to religious traditions, both Buddhist and pre-Buddhist, that the local people and the elderly can consult here.
WHAT THE PROJECT CONSISTS OF
IN THE SCHOOL OF DONGCHE
- Realize museum tours to introduce Tibetan children to the ancient nomadic, peasant and religious traditions of Tibet in order to educate and train them in respect of their cultural identity.
- Improve the health and hygiene conditions of the school: build new toilets with running water and sinks to prevent the spread of fecal-oral diseases.
- Organize hygiene and health education courses for all school teachers and for all children
- Purchase wooden and cloth covers for all ancient Buddhist and pre-Buddhist books to protect them and have them used by the local community;
- Organize guided tours of the museum and lectures on ancient local traditions.
Direct beneficiaries of the project are 206 Tibetan children aged 6 to 13 and 180 families from the Dongche valley for a total of 1080 people. Indirect beneficiaries are the 30,000 Tibetans of Guide County
Local partners: the Dongche Tibetan School, the Dongche School Committee and the Guide County Department of Education.