Tsharka Tibetan Elem/Middle School, Dolpo, Nepal

Tsharka (Chharka Bhot) School’s twenty-first school year is well underway. This year, we have a record 85 students. Not only does our school serve the village of Tsharka: half a dozen children from a nearby hamlet also attend. It is too far students to walk back and forth to school each day, so they stay at Tsharka school hostel during the school week. The hostel also accommodates children whose families are herding their yaks in the high pastures in the surrounding mountains and have no relatives in the village. One of our teachers also sleeps in the hostel. Our school cook prepares meals for the hostel students, as well as lunch for all Tsharka School staff. The next building project at Tsharka School will be a building specifically designed as a hostel. Our school model has always aimed to serve local children who could live at home and walk back and forth to school each day. We believe it is important for children to live in their local community and be immersed in their village culture. However, receiving an education is extremely important. If the best way for some local children to be able to study is to live at the school, Tsharka School will make every effort to provide for them. 

Tsharka School (Charka Bhot School,) reached an amazing milestone December 2023 of 20 years serving the educational needs of the Tsharka village community.  The very first school was started in 2003 as a basic school building, a library room, a greenhouse, and started to support teachers committed to teaching not only the Nepali government curriculum including Nepali and English based learning, but including the Tibetan language spoken by the community.

The academic year from May-October 2023 included 11 teaching staff (8 educators, a staff nurse, cook, and an office assistant,) and 76 students ranging from pre-K to grade 9.  The winter session from November-December extends the learning.  Grade 8 and 9 stduents come to Kathmandu for the winter months from December-March and offers a unique opportunity for higher grade students to stay in a hostel and continue their studies.

The teachers and administrators are planning for another school year starting in May 2024 and supplies are headed up to Tsharka in a matter of days by horse (after a few days ride by bus and jeep.)

We are so proud of the students and teachers and their continued success in providing high quality sustained educational opportunities for 20 years and counting with the support of the community.

We appreciate all the support to help support the students, the teachers, the winter school program allowing 8th and 9th graders to study in the capital city of Kathmandu for 3 winter months.

We also applaud the local communities continued efforts to gain funding for water and sanitation intiatives.