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| Schoolhouse donated by Baiyu County official |
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Athri Village School, Derge
(Through the generosity of Kham Aid Foundation donors, this school has received small grants for equipment, and a two-year pledge to support a second teacher. However, much more help is needed, for example construction of a proper classroom, dormitory accomodations for students whose parents live far from the school, and cash to support ongoing expenses)
Pamela Logan, April 22, 1998
The overwhelming majority of schools in Kham are organized and funded by the government. However, there is a small number of privately funded schools established in remote areas. Funding for these schools comes from well-off Tibetans who come from or live in the area, and from foreign sources. Akong Rinpoche, a prominent Kagyu incarnate lama who resides in Scotland, is probably the most prolific establisher of private schools. He has financed 36 schools scattered throughout the Tibetan plateau, and makes annual visits to check on their operations. The government apparently does little to monitor activities of private schools. I visited one such school in Baiya Township, Derge County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan. Here is what I found.
Athri Village is located in the valley of the Achen River, which is a feeder to the Jinsha Jiang. To reach it, one travels past Derge, turn south on the road that parallels the Jinsha Jiang for 52 km to a road maintenance station at a place called Athri Da (“bottom of the Athri”). Then one must travel up the river valley on a footpath for about an hour and a half to Athri village.
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| Schoolhouse donated by Baiyu County official |
The school is located in a large house owned by Penchok Rabten, a prominent official in Baiyu County. He and Akong Rinpoche worked together to establish the school in this village. There are 28 students, of whom 27 were present at the time of the visit. My team was greeted by the whole class, arranged in one long line, each holding a traditional Tibetan book of sutras. All the students were reading aloud from their books in a cacophony of soprano voices. After several minutes of admiring the students’ skill, we were invited inside for tea.
There is only one teacher at this school, a
70-year-old man named So-ong Gonpo. He studied at Babang
(Palpung) Monastery. His health is not very good. He
lives in the village with his wife, and together they live on 300
kg of grain which he receives annually as wages from Penchok
Rabten. They supplement this income with some
farming. In years of poor harvest they do not have enough
to eat.
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| School teacher So-ong Gonpo |
The students are all local to the village, and live at home. Orphans and children from poor families are preferred for admittance. Each child receives .5 yuan (about 6 cents) for each day of school attended, and brings from home a book of sutras which is the only textbook used. If the family does not have such a book, they must purchase it for 18 yuan (US$2.25). The children range in age from 11 to 18. They all study together in one class. Of the 28 students, only six are girls. I was told that, in the past, boys were preferentially sent to school and girls were kept at home, but this is no longer the case, and the observed imbalance is a natural statistical variation. The school meets seven days a week, ten months a year, vacation being in October and November. Only one subject is taught: Tibetan language. Consequently, the children have a high level of achievement in Tibetan, but in other subjects they lag far behind their counterparts in government schools, and do not qualify for further education.
The village has applied to the county government for assistance for their school, but has not received any reply. So far, the only thing that the school gets from the government is some notebooks for the students to write in. Akong Rinpoche promised four years of support, of which 2 years have already elapsed. He has not committed to support beyond this period.
The schools’ most urgent need is a second teacher to teach subjects such as Chinese, mathematics, history, geography, and science. Such a teacher would cost 600 yuan (US$75) per month. They would also like to build a standard classroom complete with a blackboard, desks, and benches. This building would cost about 20,000 yuan to construct. The neighborhood suffers from poor transport (no motorable road), and there are no trees in the vicinity, so acquiring building materials is difficult and costly.
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| Children of Athri Village |
When asked about their career aspirations,
the children replied that they would like to be monks, doctors,
and teachers. Without access to higher education, the most
realistic goal for boys is to enter a monastery.
Unfortunately, this career option does little to advance the
economic status of the community. Consequently, until the
school can be made more comprehensive, the cycle of poverty for
Athri Village is likely to continue.