If you had peered into a primary level classroom a few years ago, you would have seen 15 year olds alongside 4 year olds, this is because we have to admit kids who have never been to school. These days we have three Special Classes for newcomers. Class size is kept small and each class has a teacher's aide who can speak Tibetan, Nepali and English. Students in these classes have the option of ?skipping? grades if they work hard. Pasang Chonzom skipped seven grades from Nursery to Class 5.
Teacher's aides have been placed in all intake level classes because most of our teachers do not speak Tibetan. All our aides are graduates of Thrangu Rinpoche?s schools. They speak Tibetan, Nepali and English fluently, and more importantly, they are Buddhist.
The exclusion of low caste and ethnic minorities like Himalayan people affects SMD in other ways. We are required by Nepali law to hire accredited teachers, but in five years of searching, haven?t found any Nepal-born Himalayan people who are educated enough to qualify for a teacher?s certificate. The overwhelming majority of our teachers are high caste and Nepali-speaking; they can?t communicate with new students (who speak Tibetan) so we place ?Seniors? in all the intake level classes.
Training is offered in classical Tibetan opera, Nepali pop music (singing, guitar and keyboards) band (flute and drums) as well as Tibetan guitar, zither and drums. SMD kids get dance training in Tibetan and Nepali folk dance, including the all-time favourite yak dance. Those who are interested get training in Tibetan opera and acrobatics. We also give instruction in Tamang folk dances. (The Tamang people came to Nepal about 400 years ago from Tibet.)
Karma Dhondup B250 & Dawa Sherpa B04 |
Kiran B344 |
Tsering Dhondup B340a & Tsering Thinley B292
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Choden Yangchen B403
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Dressed for Tibetan Opera
