The school of Golok

In 1996, Jigmed Gyaltsen, monk of the famous Ragya Monastery located in the plateau of the Golok prefecture, at an altitude of 4.200 meters, created a school where male children could learn the ancient religious traditions as well as modern disciplines. This school differs from all others in the Qinghai Province for using the method of “teaching and debate” used in former times in monasteries together with learning modern science. Unfortunately girls cannot attend this school since it is located in the property of Ragya Monastery.

With the aim to solve this problem and to ensure equal opportunities for girls in a very poor area where more than 75% of women are illiterate, ASIA has built a school for girls equipped with 4 buildings for classrooms, 1 kitchen, 3 bedrooms and dining hall (under construction). Today 532 girls have the opportunity to attend school where education is monastic, based on memorization and where debate is used.

From July 2007 we started the project of distance support and thanks to our “parents at distance”, 291 girls have now the opportunity to achieve and appropriate level of education with a better quality of life and access to basic health care.

Distance support projects for children, students, monks and elders protect the culture, language and Tibetan education. Furthermore, they give tools and opportunities for social and cultural development.