Sri Chandra Singh Karki is a caring man in his 60s who grew up in these mountain around Chaukori. He pursued education and became a Lecturer at the Government Inter College in Nainital- which is where he raised and educated his children.
As he approached retirement, he decided he wanted to do something to better the education of the children of Chaukori. He had the energy and the desire, but no funds or land or school to speak of.



His desire fell on the ears of the prosperous and resourceful Bisht family of Chaukori with access to land in the Chaukori mountains - around the corner from an old abandoned tea estate also owned by the Bisht family, and not far from the government tourist guest house. The Bisht family understood Mr. Karki’s needs and donated the land to him to start an English-medium school. (An “English-medium school” is a school which uses English as the primary language for teaching all subjects.)



What followed must have made Mr. Karki a very proud father. As his own  three children finished their own education, they also joined them and decided that they would dedicate their lives to helping their father live his dream.  Together with his grown and college educated daughters and son - Devbala, Prakash and Sonu, Chandra Singh Karki built a small 1-room school in 1999 and named it Himalaya Public School.




The first year there was only one grade - Kindergarten and a handful of kids. They built another room that year so that the following year the Kindergartners could move to the next grade and they could accept a fresh group of little ones.



Every year - they added another room. They added other facilities - grounds, office, a small library... Other teachers joined the school - all with the same common desire to help. Many other talented and dedicated teachers joined the cause as well.



Today HPS provides education till 10th grade for about 20 students per class and has 15 teachers. Devbala Bisht is the principal of the school. Although as a population, there are slightly more females than males in the region, only about 25% of the students are girls - due to various social pressures.


The school now also provides boarding for half of its students - consisting of mainly kids whose parents have been posted elsewhere with the army or the Indo-Tibet Border Police.



Check out more pictures of HPS, Chaukori - including the premises, the teachers, the children and their work.


HPS relies on school fees and occasional donations from people.  Since this is a poor area, the school fees do not have much room to rise. Currently the average cost per child is about  Rs. 275 per month (US $6/mo).  If you include the cost of books, school supplies and clothes - the total rises to Rs. 430/month (US $10/mo).


Majority of the population in the region are either subsistence farmers or laborers  An average subsistence farmer in the area earns a maximum of Rs. 9,000 a year (US $215/yr) and a laborer slightly more. School cost for many is pardoned by the school because of such hardships.


What suffers in this low-budget non-profit administration is things like - a decent library, teaching aides, extra-curricular programs etc.


Still, thanks to the the positive attitude running in the school administration and teachers and the kids' eagerness to learn anything, the school is surviving as best as it can.


And yet - basic education is beyond reach of many children.




With a little help from others, this school can offer the Chaukori community a bright future for the children. Here are some projects that we are currently working on

 
Schools in the Himalayas
Himalaya Public School, Chaukori