Classroom in the Clouds

: Nomad Boy

For Thondup Tsering, home is an encampment of rough, woollen tents. These are huddled together on an arid, windswept plain surrounded by mountain peaks of nearly 20,000ft. He belongs to a nomadic tribe known as the Korzokpas, who live by grazing their herds of goats and yaks on the high-altitude pasturelands of the Chantang Plateau (part of the Indian Himalayas close to the border with Chinese-occupied Tibet).

Nomadic life is one of almost unimaginable hardship. In the summer nomads trek with their herds up to the high pastures; in the winter they retreat to the lower slopes to escape temperatures that drop to -50 degrees. This community of 700 men, women and children move camp 14 times a year, making it extremely difficult for the children to receive an education.

Until a few years ago there was a government school 5km away in the nearby town of Korzak. But in winter the whole area is completely snow-bound, isolated from the rest of the world. Eventually the school was forced to close down because the Government couldn't find teachers willing to work in such extreme conditions. Now the older children go to a boarding school more then 60km away, while the younger children travel with their parents - helping to tend livestock as they move from place to place in an annual cycle.

About two years ago, a Delhi-based organisation called Pragya started working with several nomadic communities, to provide primary education for the younger children. The result was mobile learning centres: simple primary schools staffed by members of the nomadic communities, that provide basic education for the children as they migrate with their parents from place to place.

The classes run for two hours every morning, giving the children enough time to help their parents with milking and shearing the animals in the early morning and late afternoon. The children love the classes because the mobile centre has a range of toys and games designed to enable them to learn through play - bright-coloured jigsaws, board-games, puzzles, counting boards, skittles, plastic cricket bats, footballs. The school boxes are like treasure chests to children who never normally have access to any toys.

Thondup Tsering is the main teacher in this mobile school. He has lived with this community all his life and is passionate about ensuring the children gain as good a start as possible, helping to safeguard the future of this community and its traditional nomadic lifestyle.

"These children are our future. It's crucial they get an education: that they can read and write a little bit and have at least basic numeracy. Otherwise they'll spend the rest of their lives being exploited by traders from other communities, and end up picking up other people's garbage."

Karuna has worked in partnership with Pragya Trust to secure a five-year grant from the Big Lottery Fund of £115,000 per year, to set up 136 education centres in high-altitude areas spread across four states in the Indian Himalayas. The remaining funding comes from individual Karuna supporters. We estimate this programme will help to provide appropriate primary education for more then 15,000 children.

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