The 250 students
Each year, the young future students are chosen by the village committees. In Zanskar, only one or two children per family have the luck to go to school. From the foundation of the school, the RZA want to ensure a parity between girls and boys in the Marpaling classes.
In the Marpaling School, kids begin with two years of nursery school and keep their academic program going until the 8th class (for a total of 10 years). Then, the RZA allows the most brilliant students to continue their studies in Ladakh, on the basis of an agreement made with the Lamdon School of Leh, a great private school.
Each year, the Marpaling is open from March to October. During winter, the weather conditions prevent people from staying in this area.
In the morning, kids go to school on foot from their village (it can sometimes take 1,5 hours), or with the yellow school bus that serves the villages situated further away.
Although the Marpaling is a private school, it only asks the students’ parents for a modest contribution. It is exclusively thanks to your donations and sponsorships that the RZA is able to ensure the schooling of 250 kids and to deal with many other big scale projects.