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
Founded december 2013, the Association Suisse pour l’Aide au Zanskar (AaZ-CH) helps children in Zanskar have access to quality education without giving up on their local culture, language and traditions.
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 over 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 over 300 pupils (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 starts beginning of March and ends in mid-December, 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 the Ladakh Union Territory.
An eco-friendly residential building
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, our association financed the construction of a boarding building that can accommodate up to 24 students.
Completed in the fall of 2019 after 3 years of work, the residential facility remained unoccupied for more than 2 years because of the pandemic. Since July 2022, 11 girls and 10 boys have now settled into the dorms.
Do you want to help?
Latest news from Zanskar
We thank these communities who support us
