We have established the Senior Programme to help students go on past Grade 10. The students we choose to keep are called ‘Seniors’.

YEAR 1—SERVICE (GAP YEAR): After the grade 10 National Board Exams are finished, it takes two to three months for the government to produce the results. We try to send students home, so they can reconnect with their families and their own village culture. When the results are published, they all come back and we make the selection for the Senior Programme. The successful students are offered a chance to give service for a year at one of the following places chosen for them:

• SMD School
• Thrangu Tara Abbey Nunnery (two to three senior girls to teach the smallest nuns, preparing them for SMD)
• Namo Buddha Yangtse Monastery (four senior boys positions to prepare the smallest monks for SMD)
• Nar Satek Monastery (1 girl or boy, preparing the smallest monks for SMD).
• Hinang Thrangu Tashi Choephel Ling Monastery
• Some may also find a placement at other nearby monastaries or at a village school in the mountains.

YEAR 2 & BEYOND

Track 1—Ongoing Education in Nepal:
After the Seniors finish a year of service, they come back to us provided we have space for them. They then complete grades 11 and 12 outside of SMD while living with us on campus. Generally, these students aim to become health workers, social workers or teachers. We pay for their tuition and offer room and board at SMD until they are done with their program. Some also continue to work part-time at SMD or elsewhere to assist with their living expenses.

Track 2—Scholarships Abroad:</strong/>
Other seniors try out for scholarships in open competition at independent schools overseas. (Having kids on scholarship elsewhere provides a side benefit for us at the school in that extra beds open up!) SMD has had more than 60 students oversees. Many have had the chance to finish high school (grades 11 and 12) at some of the finest independent schools in Australia, Norway, Canada, Switzerland, Portugal and the US. The schools (sometimes with the aid of sponsors/host parents), generously offer all expenses, along with annual return flights, medical insurance, a laptop, mobile phone, clothing and pocket money.

Our kids abroad are studying in some of the most rigorous academic streams: many are doing the International Baccalaureate (IB).

The IB is the most academically challenging high school education possible. Universities waive First Year requirements if a student has excelled in the IB programme. We think the IB programme is particularly fitting for SMD kids. From the IBO mission statement:

“The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment. These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.”

Once the students have graduated from their respective school abroad, they return to SMD (many give more service for one to two years), and then usually continue on to University either in Nepal or abroad—many of our students who have graduated from the IB programmes abroad have gone on to win scholarships at universities.

Every year, some Seniors (both from our international and Nepal graduates) join our staff and work half-time while going to university half-time—this was Rinpoche’s idea. Our teaching staff numbers around 50 individuals.

After the government publishes the results of the grade 10 National Board Exams (SEE) aka “The Iron Gate”, we start a nomination process. We’ve been watching the students since they were in grades 5/6. Thrangu Rinpoche’s aims are to preserve the language, culture and Buddhist way of life of Himalayan people. We see which students try to carry out these aims in addition to having the following qualities:

• Bodhicitta (altruism = helping others) as the Buddha taught
• Leadership skills
• Students who give their best in helping others = ‘giving service’
• Students who try hard in their studies

After the SEE results are published all sections of the school (monk staff members, teachers, older Seniors, scholarships kids and Support Staff) are canvassed for nominations. Nominations are done anonymously. Reasons for the nominations (related to Thrangu Rinpoche’s aims) must be provided.

Some students are not chosen as Seniors. Among the reasons a child may not be chosen are:

• The family now has resources they didn’t have when the student came to us.
• The student has shown no willingness to help others. One of the main teachings of the Buddha is, “Help if you can help, and if you can’t help, at least don’t harm.
• Space, which is our main constraint.

Those who are selected to give service away from SMD are fully cared for (for a year) by the institution that takes them. Generally, they are given tasks as junior teachers, but they may also have extra enrichment. E.g. The girls at the nunnery have been taken to Bodhgaya India to help at the annual monlam (prayer festival). In 2016, more than 12,000 people attended.

Those who are kept at SMD who have family near the school can be Day Seniors, but most have to live at the school. They are somewhat autonomous. At Rinpoche’s wish, they are being given a chance to learn life skills, as well as a chance to give back. They have their own small kitchen and dining room. They take turns shopping, budgeting, cooking, cleaning and washing the dishes. Six days a week, they cook dinner for themselves, then, at dinnertime, they have a chance to sit down together and talk— sometimes they are given real life problems to solve.

If they are chosen to stay at SMD, we move them about: jobs include working in the Academic Office (word processing, preparing exams, answering the phone, running errands for the Academic side of the school), working in the Director’s Office (the hardest job there is…a lot of multitasking, handling PR, corresponding with sponsors, publishing, etc.), working in the school’s stores (handling inventories in three languages…this is where all the supplies for children and live in staff are issued e.g. clothing, soap). Other duties include keeping inventories for the AV equipment, films and CDs, and working as classroom aides. Seniors also work in the hostel (the boarding side of the school), supervising at homework time (‘self study’) and giving tuition. We help them open bank accounts.

Seniors are given simple training so they can help younger kids in and out of the classrooms. (We give  training in early skills acquisition, psychology, classroom management and phonics).

For nine years, our Seniors also volunteered as teachers for Pawo Gompa, a nearby monastery which didn’t have enough money to hire teachers for their small monks. Our Seniors ran the entire teaching programme. Just recently, Pawo Gompa hired one of our graduates.

Out of necessity, our Seniors do many of the tasks that teachers normally do, because the Seniors speak Tibetan as well as Nepali and English. SMD could not run without them.

While they are giving service, the Seniors are also expected to go to all Dharma (Buddhist) teachings as well as prayers/meditation at least once a week. They must attend Leadership Group every week, to learn critical thinking, and gain awareness of global issues and individual responsibility (as the Buddha taught).

We move Seniors around in the school quite a lot. While they are working, everyone they work for or with observes their performance. Our Director works closely with Seniors and registers how each one is doing. If they do really well, we consider them for scholarships overseas. If we get a scholarship offer, we nominate a Senior. If the school accepts our nominee, we start working on documents (citizenship card, passport, guardianship papers, translations and notarizations, etc). This is very time-consuming because:

• The kids have to go back to the mountains to district headquarters to get papers.
• Translations must be done by government agencies here in Kathmandu.
• All translations need to be notarized.
• Corruption in every contact with the government slows things down and ups costs.

After all this, we start the process of applying for a visa. This takes at least four months and often longer. We tell the kids that they can never believe they’re going abroad until they’re past the Immigration counter in Kathmandu airport and actually sitting on the plane.

The whole process costs us $600 to $800 in pre-travel costs (documents, translations, notarizing, travel gear, clothing, etc.). Visas and medical costs vary, but most are several hundred dollars. Pre-travel costs for Australia were almost two thousand dollars, money we had to raise separately.

In offering scholarships for SMDers to finish high school, the following independent schools have been extremely generous:

• Appleby College, Oakville, Canada
• Atlanta International School Atlanta, USA
• The Bavarian International School
• Bishop Strachan School, Toronto, Canada
• Hotchkiss School, Connecticut, USA
• Inter Community School, Zurich, Switzerland
• Institut le Rosey, Rolle, Switzerland
• Ivanhoe Grammar School, Melbourne, Australia.
• Mulgrave School, Vancouver, Canada
• Red Cross Nordic United World College, Flekke, Norway
• St. Julian’s School, Lisbon, Portugal
• United World College of the Adriatic, Duino, Italy
• West Island College, Calgary, Canada
• Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School in Red Deer, Canada (LTHS has taken two students into their IB programme. LTHS is a public school. In this case, financial support has come from two families in Red Deer.)
• Shawnigan Lake School, Vancouver Island, Canada

In addition to paying tuition, room and board, these schools cover school supplies, text books & laptops, medical & dental, clothing, and pocket money. Most of these schools also pay an annual return ticket. Very often, the host families contribute funding too.

The generosity hasn’t been limited to scholarships. Support flows back to SMD. For example, Appleby College, West Island College, ICSZ and the Bavarian International School offered accommodation and help with travel costs when our Director visited. The Inter Community School Zurich and the Bavarian International School sent teachers to give inservice training to our teachers. The ICS community sponsors many children and they and the Bavarian International School both fundraise for SMD.

Senior Gap Year

While the kids are with the Thrangu family (at SMD, the nunnery or any of our monasteries) their sponsorship is meant to cover their costs, including some pocket money. Find Gap Year rates here – https://himalayanchildren.org/how-to-help/make-a-donation/

Grades 11 & 12 in Nepal

We are too crowded to offer 11 and 12 at SMD, but we do our best to help students continue their education. We send them to other schools in the Kathmandu valley to finish grades 11 and 12 for a total cost (tuition, uniforms, textbooks, transportation, lunch, etc.) of about NPRs 65,000 if the Senior is living outside SMD.

General Medicine (Paramedic Training) to become certified Health Assistants

Tuition for this three-year programme costs $3,500 to $4,000 but doesn’t include texts, transportation, uniforms, exams, and equipment, but students can start as soon as they finish Class 10 (SLC). Students must live in the Kathmandu Valley while they are in the programme. When they finish, they can run health posts or lead a casualty ward team of ten. Health Assistants are, in essence, ‘barefoot doctors’ who can do almost anything except major surgery.

This training is particularly useful at altitude, where there is no healthcare at all. It is also possible to work in private hospitals with this certification. In addition, it allows for further study at Bachelor’s and Masters level in Public Health or in Health Education, or and it is also a pathway to becoming a physician.

Higher Education Pathways – *please note that funding cannot come through SMD for legal reasons*

University in Nepal

On average, tuition costs about $400 to 800 USD/year to finish an undergraduate degree. By the time our students get to university, we have often hired them as part time teachers and then they pay their own way through university.

Bachelor Degree in Traditional Himalayan/Tibetan Medicine

At Sowa Rigpa International College. This is a 5.5 year intensive course which gives a Bachelor of Sowa Rigpa Medicine & Surgery (BSRMS). Students must be fluent in and able to read and write Tibetan. Tuition is expensive – almost 6000 USD in 2021.

From the Sowa Rigpa International College website:

“Sowa Rigpa International College is the first institution in Nepal to offer a degree program in Sowa Rigpa – the Science of Traditional Himalayan & Tibetan Medicine, as an affiliate of Lumbini Buddhist University.  Located in the sacred Boudhanath region of Kathmandu, the college will help ensure the continuity of this precious medical heritage through education and research.”   sorigcollege.org

Acupuncture Training at Rural Health Education & Service Centre (RHESC)

This is a 3 year intensive course. Tuition cost approximately $3000 US. One SMD student, Tsering Tamang has already finished the course (she won a scholarship) and has been practicing for nearly five years. Acupuncture is affordable in Nepal and very helpful for farmers’ knees.

Contribute to SMD Higher Education Fund:
You may sponsor a senior student. This pays room and board, transportation, government documents, and clothing…

• 1. For a Gap year
• 2. And after a Gap year, to finish high school in Nepal. In order to go on to higher education, kids have to finish Grades 11 & 12. Such schools are for-profit, expensive and urban. Annual tuition tends to be about US$800/year, and as high as US$2,000/year. Factoring in the cost of living, it costs us.

Scout Out Scholarships at Boarding Schools in Your Hometown:
We aim for grades 10, 11 and 12 at independent schools (preferably with IB), either boarding or homestay. If you would like more information, please contact us.