Project Profiles - India
The task of identifying schools in genuine need of assistance is undertaken by trusted contacts, known to Jim Coleman over three decades. Only schools serving poor communities are selected for assistance. Some will be state schools which do not have the funds needed to provide more than the most basic facilities, while others will be private schools providing an English medium education.
Jobs |
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TeachingAll the schools HELP supports in India require teachers. If you are looking for a teaching job, then click on a region that interests you on the right, and scroll down until you find a project that suits you. Non-teaching positionsOne of the schools is also looking for other skills:
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The regions in India HELP currently sends volunteers to are listed here:
Click here for opportunities in Nepal. |
The School Year
Because the school years in India and Nepal differ, it is possible to teach at HELP sponsored schools all through the calendar year:-
Typically, in the Indian Himalayas, the school year runs from late February to mid-December, and is split into two semesters. The first normally runs from the beginning of March to the end of July, with a two week summer break in the last half of June. The second runs from the beginning of August to the end of the year.
However, there are variations to this general pattern. In Uttarakhand, for example, the school year starts in mid April after the final exams in the month of March. Summer holidays run from around mid- May to the second week of July, and winter vacations are held between mid- December to the second week of January.
On the other hand, in Nepal the school year runs from June to April.
In both Nepal and India, during the two main annual Hindu festivals of Dussehra and Diwali the school programme is interrupted by around two weeks of holidays. Dussehra takes place in early October and Diwali, the festival of lights, follows 21 days later. Therefore, at this time of year, preference is given to volunteers who can commit themselves to three months. The weather is usually wonderful in these autumn months, so the holidays provide a great opportunity to trek or travel, or to wander around and observe the many religious activities taking place.
Sikkim (India)
Surrounded by Nepal on the west and Bhutan on the east, Tibet on the north, and India's state of West Bengal on the south, Sikkim's tiny area of about 2,800 square miles is not easy to see on South Asia maps. Altitudes range from 800 feet above sea level up to the summit of Kanchenjunga (28,169 feet), the third highest mountain in the world. Gangtok is the capital, and it has many of the things you will need to stock up on. You are likely to want to visit it from time if you are working in the more remote schools.
Gangtok
The indigenous tribal people of Sikkim are called Lepcha, and Lepcha kings used to rule Sikkim when it was an independent kingdom. However, the Lepchas are now outnumbered by Tibetans and Nepalis, and it was discontent from this immigrant population that led to the Indian government to incorporate Sikkim as India's 22nd state in 1975.
You should be aware that Sikkim is a restricted part of India, and that the maximum time you can spend there is two months. So if you are looking for a longer assignment, we can arrange to place you in one of the schools we help in or around Kalimpong, or in Nepal, after the two months at your Sikkimese school comes to an end.
Today's weather (forecast)
St Paul's Primary School
The school was opened in 1985, with the intention of providing an English medium education for poor children. The school also provides the children with vocational training. St Paul's was the first school to approach HELP for assistance.
Volunteer in class
The school, which was established in 1985, is located in a small village in South Sikkim, close to the Nepalese border at an altitude of 1500 metres. The village is home to approximately 5000 people, of various ethnic groups, most of whom rely on farming for survival although recently, tourism has become important.
Pupils and their volunteer teacher
There are around 150 pupils from nursery level to Class 8, and a permanent complement of 10 teachers. The school has now moved into the ground floor of a smart new building that has been financed by money provided by HELP and its volunteers. At present there are 10 classrooms. A second floor remains to be built.(For more information about the St. Paul on-going fund-raising project, please see the current projects section.)
You will be accommodated with the head teacher's family. Our first volunteer, started up a school newspaper and created a library using books he had sent out from Australia. See what he has written about his experiences in the blue column to the right of this.
Volunteer's room
Have a look, in the blue column to the left of this text, at what one of the pupils has written about his school in the St Paul School Digest!
If you are interested in volunteering at St Paul's, first read our volunteer webpage, and then please click on the button below and complete and send the application form.
Class II children
Teachers and children in cultural dress
Assembly
Teaching
Host family
Classtime
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Vidya Sagar Gyanpeeth School
Vidya Sagar Gyanpeeth environs
School building
This small school, located in a beautiful valley in west Sikkim, was opened in 2004. There are presently three teachers serving the needs of 43 pupils from nursery grade to Grade 5). Teaching takes place in three classrooms. The daily timetable runs from 08:30 to 14:00.
Volunteer accommodation
There is a boarding hostel for 15 pupils, the headmaster and his wife, a local teacher and a maid. Everything is extremely clean, neat organised and well thought out. The HELP volunteer will be accommodated in a room in a seperate little house. The bedroom is light, airy, clean, with two windows, but it is small. There is an outside toilet, and there are plans to put in a shower.
The volunteer will need to be quite special because the school is very isolated, and because the teachers do everything for the children, including the cooking and cleaning. Warning: Tall volunteers would be challenged by the low roofs and a small bed!
If you are interested in volunteering at Vidya Sagar Gyanpeeth school, first read our volunteer webpage, and then please click on the button below and complete and send the application form.
Top of pageDenjong Pema Chöling Academy (DPCA)
Denjong Pema Chöling Academy (DPCA) is an educational institution, registered under the Muyal Liang Trust (an NGO established in 1980) that provides free education (from kindergarten up to Class 10) and boarding to around 250 destitute and underprivileged children from the tribal rural areas of Sikkim, India. There are widows who voluntarily help in the running of the school and orphans who treat the school as their home. In addition, they provide vocational training to students on small income generating projects (bakery, tea plantation, carpet weaving initiative, yak and dri farming) and shelter and work for 12 destitute women.
DPCA
The school, a three-storied structure, is situated in Pemayangse, West Sikkim. Classes take place in a school building that has been built near the Nyingma monastery of Pemayangtse, a 17th century Buddhist monastery in the Himalayan foothills, with magnificent views of Kanchenjunga, the world’s third highest mountain. Volunteers are provided with simple lodging and all meals including breakfast. Bedding is provided, but most volunteers bring their own sleeping bag with them. It can get very cold at night.
Buddhist worship
They are looking for volunteers who can help them improve the standards of education for their children and help them run their income generating projects. In addition to teachers, DPCA is seeking a nurse or doctor, a baker, and an office assistant/programme manager.
Although it is normally impossible to stay longer than two months in Sikkim, this particular school can arrange for volunteers to stay longer than this. In fact, the principal's preference is for long stays up to 6 months.
If you are interested in volunteering at DPCA, first read our volunteer webpage, and then please click on the button below and complete and send the application form.
Students passing bricks
Students and volunteer teachers
Volunteer's room
Monastery
Kitchen
Volunteer accommodation
View from DPCA
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Paljor Namgyol Girl's Senior Secondary School
The Paljor Namgyol Girl's Senior Secondary School is a semi-private English medium school on a fine site on the edge of Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim. There are currently 1100 students and 63 staff. Maximum class size is 40.
Paljor Namgyol Girl's School
The school has a hostel for some 74 students who need to board there during the school terms, and the volunteer would be accommodated there. Female volunteers are preferred, but 'older males'would be acceptable.
Computer department
The main need is for help with Maths, Science and /or computers. The school has 14 computers with access to the Internet, and runs classes in 'computer science' for the top two classes (Xl and Xll), and 'computer education' for the lower classes. A volunteer with the appropriate expertise would be expected to improve the skills of the local staff in this area. Another need is for English teaching in the primary section (infants to Class lV).
If you are interested in volunteering at the Paljor Namgyol Girl's Senior Secondary School, first read our volunteer webpage, and then please click on the button below and complete and send the application form.
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Little Flower School
Little Flower School
This small primary school is located in a village on the main route between Gangtok and Yoksum. There are 82 pupils aged between 3 and 12 years, studying from nursery level to Class V. They are taught a standard primary curriculum by a local staff of eight full-time local teachers in seven classrooms. There is a six day working week, and the school day runs from 0930 to 1500 with a lunch break at 1230. The summer holiday is from mid-June to the end of the month, and there are exams in May, August and November. The village is an enterprising one, running an active home-stay tourist programme. The HELP volunteer would stay in one of these homes.
If you are interested in volunteering at Little Flower School, first read our volunteer webpage, and then please click on the button below and complete and send the application form.
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West Bengal (India)
Kalimpong (4,100 feet) and Darjeeling (7,000 feet) are situated on a sliver of the Indian state of West Bengal that reaches up to the Sikkimese border from the Gangetic plain. This mountainous piece of India is now called the 'Gorkha hill area' because it is Nepali speaking, and has some powers of self-government. The famous little Himalayan steam trains run from the plains all the way up to Darjeeling via a series of loops (see video clips: 1 2 3 4).
Kalimpong
There are no special visa restrictions in West Bengal so you can stay there as long as your Indian visa allows. If you have been teaching in Sikkim, you can always move to one of the schools in this area to continue your assignment after your first two months.
Kalimpong was a British hill station, built on lands that once belonged to the kings of Bhutan. It is spectacularly situated on the saddle of a 'hill' and is dominated by a Victorian church that looks as if it has been transported from an English village. However, there is nothing English about the town, which has all the colour and chaos of a small Indian town.
Today's weather (forecast)
Darjeeling
Darjeeling was also built as a hill-station by the British in the 19th century, and it became the summer capital of Bengal. Some impressive colonial architecture, and institutions like the zoo, remain intact and in use, and the town remains famous for its tea, which is grown on the flanks of the hills around the town. The town, which is draped over a high ridge, and down its northern side, has expanded greatly since colonial days, and is where the local government of the 'Gorkha hill area' is based. The name, Darjeeling, is derived from the Sanskrit word 'Durjay Ling', which means 'Siva of invincible prowess who rules the Himalayas'.
Threshing wheat
Drying noodles
River Teesta
Video cinema
Bright Life Academy
The Bright Life Academy (est. 1995) is situated in a pleasant, shady, spot in a small village half an hour's walk from the centre of Kalimpong.
Bright Life Academy
Bright Life class
It has 220 children in 10 classes from nursery level up to Class V. Maximum class size is about 30. Accommodation will be with a host family.
If you are interested in volunteering at the Bright Life Academy, first read our volunteer webpage, and then please click on the button below and complete and send the application form.
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Algarah Primary School
This school of 12 teachers and 400 children has been in existence for more than 100 years. Based in the small bazaar town of Algarah, 15 kilometres from Kalimpong, at an altitude of 5840ft. Algarah is home to approximately 3000 people. However, unemployment is high, with many working as casual labourers in part time work.
Volunteer's room
Volunteers are accommodated in Kalimpong in a comfortable, modern room, with its own bathroom, in the headteacher's house. This counts as luxurious by local standards, and may be a disappointment to volunteers who are looking for something less comfortable! You will travel to Algarah and back with the headteacher and other staff in a jeep, and this is a rather less luxurious experience!
Volunteer teaching
Teaching at Algarah, like at all government primary schools in the Darjeeling district is taught primarily in Nepali, and so the need for English teaching is particularly great. When children move to secondary school, the teaching medium changes to English, so those who come from government schools, rather than private English schools, are at a disadvantage. Volunteers will quickly pick up the rudiments of Nepali in this environment; the children's English is basic.
If you are interested in volunteering at Algarah Primary School, first read our volunteer webpage, and then please click on the button below and complete and send the application form.
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JN Memorial Public English School
The JN Memorial Public English School is, in spite of its name, a small private school in a village (a 'busti' in Nepali) with wonderful views over the paddy fields. The village has little more than a shop selling vegetables and tobacco, but Kalimpong is just 5 kilometres away. To get there entails a 20 minute walk to the road and then five minutes in a jeep.
JNM school photo
Volunteer room
The school has about 50 pupils and four teachers, one of whom is a part-timer. At present there are four classrooms shared by six classes, ranging from lower kindergarten (3 years old)to Class 5 (8 years old). The classrooms are partitioned, but there is plenty of noise!
You are likely to be accommodated in the principal English teacher's home, which is a large, comfortable brick and wood house, with a separate room for the volunteer. Meals (vegetarian) are provided in the kitchen, and there is a clean squat toilet outside.
Volunteer accommodation
This assignment is suited to self-reliant volunteers who relish the idea of being the only westerner in the community. The home-stay family are easy-going, friendly, perhaps to the point of being over-protective. But when you need space for relaxation, you will be given it. In all, this is a wonderful assignment for the right person.
If you are interested in volunteering at JN Memorial Public English School, first read our volunteer webpage, and then please click on the button below and complete and send the application form.
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Gyan Jyoti Primary School
Class time
View of the school from the volunteer's accommodation
This small, private primary school was established in 1996.It is situated on the road to Kalimpong, which is about 20 minutes drive away.
The school owns small, recently renovated and extended premises. Single volunteer accommodation will be made available at the Principal's nearby residence, which is situated a short walk up the hill from the school, and which has fine views to the hills across the valley.
host family
There are currently 57 students and the school currently takes children up to the Year 5. The biggest class has 10 students. There are not enough classrooms for these numbers (just eight), so some classes have to share a classroom.
If you are interested in volunteering at Gyan Jyoti Primary School, first read our volunteer webpage, and then please click on the button below and complete and send the application form.
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Lily Garden School
This small, private primary school is set in, and sheltered from the sun by, an attractive palm grove (coconut and betelnut palms) and surrounded by tea estates. Although it is situated just a few hundred metres above the Gangetic plain, it's climate is more like that of Kalimpong's than Siliguri which is in the plains, and the starting point of most journeys into mountains.
LGS staff
The Lily Garden School has 55 students aged 3 to 13, from nursery class to Class V, and five teachers. There are seven classrooms in two buildings.
Volunteers should be aware that school is quite isolated, being one and a half hours drive from Siliguri and three and a half hours drive from Kalimpong. As such, it would be ideal for a couple. Another factor to consider is that the school is a vegetarian only school.
If you are interested in volunteering at the Lily Garden School, first read our volunteer webpage, and then please click on the button below and complete and send the application form.
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Mount Star Academy
The Academy is situated at a vital junction of roads leading to Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Sikkim, and Siliguri, in a ramshackle village on the banks of the fast-flowing river Teesta. Although there is little to do in Teesta, apart from white-water rafting (this can be arranged in the village), the village is a good place for getting to many of the towns in this area of the Himalayas.
Teesta village
Class time
The river Teesta has cut deep into the surrounding hills, which means that the village is at a lower altitude than most of the other schools listed here, and the climate is, consequently, considerably warmer than up on the hill tops.
The Academy was established in 1992 by local Christians. It has 340 students from nursery class up to Class 8 (i.e. ages from 3 to 15), and 16 teachers. Teaching takes place in 15 classrooms located in three separate buildings. There is also a boarding hostel which caters for the needs of 16 children.
The volunteer will be accommodated either in the hostel, or with a family.
If you are interested in volunteering at the Mount Star Academy, first read our volunteer webpage, and then please click on the button below and complete and send the application form.
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Uttarakhand (India)
Lying in the northern part of India amidst the magnificent Himalayas and dense forests, Uttarakhand (until recently known as Uttaranchal) was formed on 9th Nov 2000 as India’s 27th state. The state borders Himachal Pradesh in the north-west and Uttar Pradesh in the South, and has international borders with western Nepal and China.
Uttarakhand State
The city of Dehradun, has been declared as the interim capital of the new state. Dehradun is situated at the Himalayan foothills in the fertile Doon Valley, which is well known for its pleasant climate and natural beauty.
The population of the state is around 7 million. The State, which covers 55,845 sq km, is mostly hilly (approx 88 percent) and the remaining 12 percent falls in the plains. It is very rich in natural resources with many glaciers, rivers, forests, and well-known mountain peaks including Nanda Devi, Kedarnath, Trishul, Bandarpunch and Mt Kamet.
Today's weather (forecast)
Sasa Academy
The school is situated in a remote village in the Tehri Garwhal district of Uttarakhand state, at a height of 6000 feet. New Delhi, India’s capital, is about 350 km. away to the south.
Sasa volunteer accommodation
Sasa Academy
The SASA Academy, which was established in March 2000, is run by the Serve And Share Association, a registered charitable institution in India, which runs various development projects such as school, child sponsorship, adult literacy and community development & child development training programmes. The Academy has six classes running from kindergarten to class lV, with a total of 102 students as at July 2004.
The school runs 6 days in a week, from 8am to 1pm in the summer and from 9am to 1.30 pm in the winter. In addition, the children also come for tuition , food and sports in the evening between 4 and 6 pm
Sasa Academy Children
The region is really remote. With poor roads, no electricity, cold weather in winter, and with low salaries compared to the cities, it is hard to retain quality local teachers. SASA currently has six teachers (3 female and 3 male), but there is always a need for good English and Science teachers to supplement their work. SASA can accommodate two volunteers through out the year.
If you are interested in volunteering at the Sasa Academy, first read our volunteer webpage, and then please click on the button below and complete and send the application form.
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Ladakh (India)
Ladakh is the largest region of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is situated on the highest plateau in India (much of it being over 3,000 m) which straddles the Himalayan and Karakorum mountain ranges and the upper Indus River valley. The capital is Leh.
Leh
Tikse Monastery
It was once an independent Buddhist kingdom, and is sometimes called "Little Tibet" on account of its cultural and geographical similarities with Tibet proper. Unlike the rest of Jammu and Kashmir, which is mainly Islamic, Ladakh remains predominantly Buddhist. This is evidenced by the large number of active Buddhist monasteries in the region.
Today's weather (forecast)
Because it is bitterly cold in the winter, the best times for volunteers are between May and early October.
Lamden Model Senior Secondary School
Lamden Model Senior Secondary School
This is a large, well-appointed school with 38 classrooms, a computer room and well-stocked library, situated in Leh. There are 50 full-time local teachers teaching 1200 students aged 4-18. The Lamden Society school network caters primarily for the poorest children. Children from middle-class families subsidise scholarships for the poorer children.
Bucket shower
Female volunteer accommodation
Girl's hostel
Accommodation will be in a hostel in the school grounds, and is suitable for a female volunteer, or a couple. A single man would need to be accommodated in a guest house (there would be an extra monthly charge for this, over and above the standard HELP payment for board and accommodation.)
Accommodation will be in a hostel in the school grounds, and is suitable for a female volunteer, or a couple. A single man would need to be accommodated in a guest house (there would be an extra monthly charge for this, over and above the standard HELP payment for board and accommodation.)
If you are interested in volunteering at the Lamden Model Senior Secondary School, first read our volunteer webpage, and then please click on the button below and complete and send the application form.
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Lamden Model School Tikse
Lamden Model School
View of Monastery
This small school, belonging to the Lamden Society network, is situated in an isolated valley about 30 minutes from Leh by car. It is overlooked by a Buddhist monastery which is perched on a nearby hill. It caters for around 70 children (aged 3-14) whose families cannot afford to send them to better-appointed schools. The school has ten small classrooms, and a staff of seven local teachers.
Volunteer accommodation
View of LMS from Tikse Monastery
Accommodation will be either with a host family or in a guest house. This assignment is probably best for a couple. The school is isolated, there is no Internet connection (but there is a telephone booth), and the opportunity to converse in English with local colleagues, or with your host family, will be limited.
If you are interested in volunteering at the Lamden Model School, first read our volunteer webpage, and then please click on the button below and complete and send the application form.
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Spituk Monastery School
This little school is a 15 minute drive from Leh. It consists of a large hall under a Buddhist monastery, caters for around 27 young monks aged 4-15 . Two new classrooms are being built.
Spituk Monastery School
Spituk class
The pupils come from poor farming and labouring families from all over the region, and receive a free education. The secular curriculum, which is taught by two local teachers, takes place between 9.30 am and 4pm, with a one-hour lunch break. (Their religious instruction is given early in the morning and again after 4pm).
Class time
Accommodation, which will be basic, will be with a host family. There is no hot water in the village, so you will wash the traditional way, probably just once or twice a week using a bucket of water that has been heated on the kitchen stove!
If you are interested in volunteering at the Spituk Monastery School, first read our volunteer webpage, and then please click on the button below and complete and send the application form.
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Himachal Pradesh (India)
Himachal Pradesh is situated in the heart of western Himalayas. The state is bordered by Jammu and Kashmir in the North, and Uttar Pradesh in the South-East. Haryana lies to the South and Punjab to the West. Himachal Pradesh is a mountainous state with altitudes ranging from 350 to 7000 meters (1050 ft. to 21000 ft.) above the sea level. Shimla, the former summer capital of the British Raj, is the state capital.
Himachal Pradesh
HELP currently offers assignments in Dharamsala which is situated in the north of Himachal Pradesh. It lies on a spur of the Dhauladhar range, the Pir Panjal region of the Outer Himalayas; and commands majestic views of the Dhauladhar ranges above, and the Kangra Valley below. Dhauladhar means "white ridge" and this breathtaking, snow-capped range rises out of the Kangra Valley to a height of 5,200 meters (17,000 feet).
The Dalai Lama, fleeing persecution in his homeland, made Dharamsala his home in exile and, in 1960, established the Central Tibetan Administration (in effect the Tibetan Government-in-Exile) there. Today, more than 8,000 Tibetan refugees consider Dharamsala their second home.
Today's weather (forecast)
Dharamsala is divided into two very different parts. Kotwali Bazaar and areas further down the valley (at the average height of 1,250 metres) are called Lower Dharamsala, while McLeod Gunj (at the height of nearly 1,800 metres) and surrounding areas are known as Upper Dharamsala. McLeod Gunj is nine kilometers by bus and four kilometres by taxi from Kotwali Bazaar. While inhabitants of Lower Dharamsala are almost all Indians, McLeod Gunj is primarily a Tibetan area.
Today, Tibetan refugees from all over the world flock to McLeod Gunj to receive blessings and teachings from the Dalai Lama. Shops strung out along the narrow streets of McLeod Gunj sell traditional Tibetan arts and handicrafts to the many Western tourists who come to experience Tibetan Buddhist culture.
GPS Bhagsu Nag
This is a basic government school catering for around 90 students aged 6-12 years. With just two local Nepalese teachers, and three classrooms, different classes have to share the same classrooms. And because there are no tables or chairs, the children have to sit on the floor. This is clearly not an assignment for the faint-hearted, but it is ideal for an idealist!
Class time
Bhagsunag School
Unlike most of the other schools HELP in the Indian Himalayas, this school runs all year, with a five-week holiday from mid-July and a two-week holiday from 25 December. However, because of the cold, the best times for volunteers are from April or May to October.
Volunteer accommodation
The volunteer(s) would be accommodated in a guest-house near a tourist spot by a waterfall, 15 minutes on foot from the school. There are shops and restaurants nearby.
If you are interested in volunteering at the GPS Bhagsunag, first read our volunteer webpage, and then please click on the button below and complete and send the application form.
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Gamru Village school
Gamru Village School
This is a small private school, set up in 2003 by an Englishman to cater for the many immigrant labourers who have come to the area from all over India to find work. There are 80 students aged 3-12 years, who are taught in five classrooms from kindergarten to Class 5.The medium of instruction is Hindi, and standards of English in the school are low.
Kids at Gamru Village School
Like the GPS Bhagsu Nag school above, this school runs all year, with a five-week holiday from mid-July and a two-week holiday from 25 December. The preferred time for volunteers is September to December, but other times are possible.
The school operates a six day week, with every second Saturday in the month off. The day begins at 0830 in the summer and finishes at 1430. In winter, the times are 0900 to 1500. One hour a day is devoted to activities such as crafts, music, games, gardening and cooking.
If you are interested in volunteering at the Gamru Village school, first read our volunteer webpage, and then please click on the button below and complete and send the application form.
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