Since 1988, the AaZ association has helped the children of Zanskar benefit from a quality education while preserving their own culture and traditions

Association Suisse pour l'Aide au Zanskar (AaZ-CH)

Founded in December 2013, the Association Suisse pour l’Aide au Zanskar (AaZ-CH) aims to help the children of Zanskar to have access to quality education
Since then, it has been collaborating with the French association AaZ (founded in 1988) to support the development and ensure smooth operations of the Lamdon Model High School in Pipiting, near Padum, in the Zanskar Valley (India)
To date, the school has nearly 300 students, from kindergarten to the final grade, and its success rate is among the best in Zanskar
The school can also take pride in having recently achieved its goal of gender parity, both in terms of students and teaching staff

The Lamdon Model High School (LMHS)

Lamdon Model High School is located in the Padum plain (Zanskar), near the village of Pipting, at an altitude of 3600 m
Every year it welcomes about 300 pupils (almost 50% of them girls) divided into 12 classes: two years of nursery school, followed by classes I to X (primary and secondary schools)
The school year begins in March and ends in November, given the harsh weather conditions and freezing winters
Although it is a private school, the LMHS is subject to the same obligations as all schools in the Indian Union: programmes, controls, examinations, authorisations to open new classes, etc.). The school is periodically inspected by the school authorities of Kargil District and the Ministry of Jammu and Kashmir State.

Residential Building Project

As one of the top schools in Zanskar, the LMHS attracts students from remote villages
Due to the lack of road and transportation infrastructure, these students cannot return home during the week or even throughout the whole school year
To remedy this situation, AaZ-CH has committed to finance the construction of a residential building (Residential Building Project – RBP), which should see be completed in 2019/20
In addition to accommodating about twenty students, the building will also offer a shared kitchen, bathrooms and accommodation for a teacher and/or supervisor

Do you want to help?

Become a member

The strength of an association primarily depends on the number of its members. AaZ currently has over 600 members in France, Italy, Switzerland and the USA.

Sponsor a child

Becoming a sponsor means that a boy or girl in the heart of the Himalayas can go to school for 10 to 12 years with your help. This is an important moral commitment on your part.

Support the school

By subscribing to a school support, your commitment allows us to improve the school's daily operations, to replace a defective sponsor or to respond to an emergency situation

Make a donation

You also have the possibility of supporting our work by making a one-time donation of the amount of your choice. This will then be used to finance specific projects related to the LMHS.

Latest news from Zanskar

Student with her notebook at LMHS in Zanskar

AaZ

100% success for LMHS students

100% success rate for LMHS students in secondary school graduation examinations (after 12 years of schooling). Since 1999, this is the 4th time that students have achieved this result, ranking the LMHS as the best school in Zanskar.

Zanskar

Piano concert at Shingola Pass

Ukrainian-born pianist Evelina De Lain played the piano at the top of Shingola Pass in Zanskar. Considered the world’s highest classical music concert, it was given to raise funds for an association that helps people with cystic fibrosis

AaZ

RBP worksite Season 2

Initiated in 2017, the RBP (Residential Building Project) construction site resumed with the return of the summer season in July.

AaZ

Summer 2018 at the LMHS

A short 7′ minute video showing some of the summer 2018 activities at the LMHS