Successful Completion of the Children's Education System Supportive of Cultural and Spiritual Traditions.
Successful Completion of the Children's Education System Supportive of Cultural and Spiritual Traditions.
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While conditions have improved significantly in the last 15 years, and children are now taught Nepali and sometimes English in State-sponsored schools, the children receive no education of their own Indo-Tibetan language and traditions. The Indo-Tibetan culture has eighty to one hundred thousand volumes of their sacred spiritual tradition, but because the children are no longer learning Tibetan as a language, they no longer have access to their own spiritual tradition.

Since there is a lack of quality education in the villages, the children from the villages, need to move down to Jomsom to attend boarding school for a quality education. Providing a quality education at the Jomsom boarding school ensures that the children will learn to read and write as well as learning their native language and history, an opportunity that they might not have otherwise. Sending them to a boarding school some distance from Pangling decreases the likelihood that their families would keep them out of school to work the farms. At the same time, because the school is only a 4 hour walk from their home village, the children will not lose touch with their families, which has been a problem when children are sent as far away as Kathmandu or Northern India. In addition, the children will have an opportunity to learn Tibetan language, history and culture after school curriculum. The goal is to produce educated younger generation who can become carriers of indigenous culture.

The children go to the Nepalese state school nearby during the day, learning to read and write Nepali and English as well as science, math and history. When they return home to Geshe Asonam’s MCEC in the evenings and on weekends, the children additionally learn to read, write and speak Tibetan as well as learning Tibetan culture and history as part of larger multicultural education. The education provided by MCEC augments the education they are already provided by Nepali government.

Most of the children are unable to afford tuition, room and board costs. The cost for the scholarship for one child per year is approximately $900. This cost includes tuition, room and board, books, supplies, uniforms and examination fees.

This year, as a result of their excellent work educating the children, the MCEC Children's Home won the Harsit Hardik Excellence Award from the Dhaulagiri Secondary Boarding School.

 

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