Education at the monastery school

In Nepal, children from poor families usually have to contribute to their families' livelihoods from an early age. They do simple jobs, help with the harvest, weave carpets, or carry loads on construction sites. As a result, they are often unable to attend school, drop out of education, or never even have the chance to go to school at all. Many families lack the necessary funds to provide their children with a solid education.

In addition, remote mountain villages lack good teachers who can ensure a sufficient quality of education.

Monastery schools offer an alternative. Here, children live and learn in boarding schools; they learn to read and write for free and are taught basic subjects such as English, mathematics, and geography. They receive meals, clothing, and safe accommodation. In these monastery schools, the children are generally well cared for and can see their families regularly. In addition, they are taught Buddhist Dharma and Buddhist meditation. After their education, they can decide for themselves whether they want to continue living as monks or Buddhist teachers, or whether they want to pursue a different path in life or career.

One of these monastery schools is the Repa School in Pharping, which has been run by the Nepal Buddhist Association since 2021. Currently, around 100 young monks live and study here. Grades 1 to 3 are taught in separate classrooms by separate teachers at the Repa School; for grades 4 to 8, the children have to commute to nearby public schools, as the Repa School lacks the funds for qualified teachers.

The project aims to ensure the continuity of teaching at the Repa School on site and a high quality of education by qualified teachers for grades 4 to 8 as well.