The Druk White Lotus School
Druk White Lotus School has provided quality education to Ladakhi girls and boys since September 2001 It is a project that was started at the request of the people of Ladakh, high in the Indian Himalayas, where a large proportion of the population still maintains Tibetan Buddhist traditions.
In Shey (Ladakh), the Druk White Lotus School project began in 1992. Its remit is to provide a mixture of traditional and contemporary education to help the next generation of Ladakhis to maintain their culture and develop the skills necessary for them to survive in the modern world...
Who They Teach:
The school's catchment includes remote areas where quality education is unavailable. November 2007 saw the start of another academic year, with 408 children enrolled in nine year groups, from Nursery through to Junior Class 6. When complete, the school will accommodate about 780 young people.
What They Teach:
Nursery and Infant children are taught using the Montessori system. Children follow the national curriculum through Classes 1 to 8, which leads into the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) examination syllabus for Classes 9 and 10.
In addition to the core subjects of English, Hindi, Bodhic (local language), maths and social studies, children study information techhnology, physical education and creative arts (painting, drawing, model-making, drama, dance and song).
Educational Ethos:
"The school aims to nurture life skills to give confidence and impart livelihood skills"
The educational ethos is to believe in the child as an active participant in the learning process rather than as a passive recipient. Activity-based learning forms a key part of lessons and children regularly participate in field-trips, role play, discussions, group-work and games. The school aims to nurture 'life skills' to give confidence and impart 'livelihood skills' to develop competence.
Award Winning Buildings: Our award-winning buildings embody the school's ethos.
Designed by international architects Arup Associates the buildings combine the best of traditional Ladakhi architecture with 21st century engineering excellence and so act as a model for appropriate, cost effective and sustainable development.
Ladakh is an area of few resources and extreme temperatures. Here are the highlights of Arup's design solutions to an extremely challenging design brief:
Key features:
- Using locally-available materials, which have the least impact on the environment;
- Exploiting natural ventilation and passive solar heating;
- Minimising energy use and emissions;
- Minimising water use;
- Refining and adapting traditional techniques to provide modern solutions.
Progress to date:
The school is being built in phases: the Nursery & Infant courtyard opened in September 2001; the Junior School in 2005; and work should be completed on the Senior School by 2010, funds permitting. For detailed overview of Druk White Lotus School's activities, please visit http://www.dwls.org/.
How to help:
Please contact us at (852) 6148-9089 or email contact@drukpa-hk.org