MUNSEL - LING SCHOOL AT RANGRIK

We began our education program on a small scale by placing the first children in our care in a school outside our Spiti valley in Yol, not far from Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama lives in exile. When we had gained the confidence of parents and benefactors with the success of our work in Yol, we were able to undertake the construction of our own school in Spiti itself. The Dalai Lama inaugurated our new school in 1996, giving it the name Munsel-ling. This was a dream come true for us. It was the first English-medium private school in Spiti, and probably in the whole of the tribal belt of Himachal Pradesh. The first children were enrolled in kindergarten and primary class one. The school expanded by one class per year until 2006 when the oldest children reached class ten (age 16). It is recognised by the Himachal Pradesh Education Board as both a primary and secondary school.

Every spring since the school opened has seen some new construction starting or building from last year being resumed after the deep winter freeze. Most buildings on the campus are a variation on our traditional building methods, earthen walls with flat, earth covered roofs, but some have solar space heating features to take advantage of Spiti’s sunshine, bright and abundant even in the severe cold of winter.

In 1999 the school took in its first boarders. Though they may be only of primary school age, living away from home is the only way for children from outlying villages to receive a decent education.  Approximately half the present school population of 400 lives in the neat and cozy hostels. The school population has stopped increasing for the present but many infrastructure improvements are needed. Better bathing facilities and more hygienic toilets are a health-care priority for the hostel children for instance. Slightly longer term, we plan that Munsel-ling School should in future go up to class 12 (age 18) on the arts side. Students concentrating on sciences will continue to go out to Sidhwari for their 10+1 and 10+2 studies.

Many, if not most, of the children currently in our care are from low-income homes with parents who can by no means afford the full cost of their children’s education. At Munsel-ling we have admitted fifty children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds completely free. Other parents pay fees on a sliding scale. At Munsel-ling none is asked to pay more than INR 3,000/- (US$ 67) per year. The Society spends a minimum of INR 7,600/- (US$ 170) per year per child on food, accommodation, uniforms, stationary and books. Other running costs, such as teachers’ salaries, and capital costs are on top of these. With the kind support of many helping hands, this is the income gap we are trying to bridge in our push for development.

Children Praying                   Rangrik: Bird's Eye View of Village and School                         Primary Class 

Given the educational backwardness of Spiti it will be some time before most of the teachers in Munsel-ling are Spitians. At present there are six on a full-time teaching staff of twenty. Of the rest, five are Tibetan refugees; nine are Indians from outside Spiti. Our scheme of helping promising young people to qualify as teachers continues. In adaptation to the harsh winter climate, school hours in winter are shorter, from 10am to 4pm. In summer the school runs from 9.30am to 5pm and we have had volunteer teachers helping out with the timetable and giving valuable practice with spoken English.

The chief ornament of the school campus is a twenty-five foot high Buddha statue, which stands on a hill behind the school and is visible from afar to weary travelers. The school is situated at Spiti Valley’s widest point. From the hill on which the statue stands there are spacious and tranquil views. To the north, on the far side of Spiti River's braided streams, the venerable buildings of Key Monastery are picturesquely heaped. To the south lies Spiti’s ‘capital,’ Kaza, and beyond it, down the valley, a succession of mountains, one outsoaring the other in serene grandeur.