20th anniversary
India Ahead TV picked-up the story of the school's 20th anniversary and held the following interview on 21 October 2021 with Dr. Pramath Raj Sinha, Chair of the School Management Committee, and Annie Smith, Trustee & Deputy Chair Drukpa Trust (UK):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LReZcHXxSRQ
The school celebrated its 20th anniversary on Friday 24th September 2021.
A virtual celebration took place on Sunday 26th September 2021 to mark this occasion at 09:00EST, 14:00 BST, 18:30 IST, 21:00 HKT.
To see the recording of this special event please use the link below, - the event lasts for 1 hour 23 minutes:
The event proved to be very enjoyable and many pledges of financial support were made on the day.
Funding needed
Senior Secondary School for 16- 18-year-olds
The school's next strategic educational step is to build Senior Secondary School facilities.
This will comprise 6 classrooms and 3 science laboratories, for up to 240 students, and additional dry latrines.
This new senior secondary school will provide courses in:
- commerce
- humanities
- non-medical & medical science
enabling our students to stay at DPKS for the higher-level exams and not have to leave their much-loved school to study elsewhere. As there is a shortage of schools in Ladakh offering Senior Secondary courses, DPKS will also open its doors to new students wishing to study these subjects.
Ventilated-Improved-Pit Dry Latrines
The school campus needs two additional pairs of dry latrines for the increasing number of students.
Seismic Upgrade and Mudslide Repair Programme
Ladakh lies in a high-risk seismic area and it is essential that we protect the children here at school.
DPKS construction programme is now in receipt of a generous corporate grant to assist with the mudslide repair and seismic upgrade of the buildings damaged in 2010. The school buildings are being upgraded to increase resilience in the event of an earthquake. We are now raising the remaining funds to bring this programme to completion and ensure the safety of our children for many years to come.
Seismic Upgrade and Mudslide Repair - year 5
Last year the majority of the construction of the third and fourth new Eco-Shower buildings was completed, with some work to be completed in 2021.
This year, year 5 of the Seismic Upgrade & Mudslide Repair programme, work started at the end of April 2021, with a small team and strict adherence to the prevention of transmission of SARS-CoV-2.
Without an Arup resident engineer being on site, daily suppport from the engineers through calls and the sharing of photographs has enabled the seismic upgrade of the fourth residence, named Singeyla, to start.
DRUK PADMA KARPO SCHOOL provides high standards of education to many children in Ladakh, a mountainous region of Northen India. Since opening in 2001 the school has become multi-award winning and caters for more than 880 students from local communities as well as remote regions of Ladakh where access to quality education is limited.
Students are encouraged to excel in a wide range of academic subjects, maintain their culture and traditions and learn skills for life. Recently affiliated with India’s Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), students attain high standards in examinations enabling them to engage fully in local and national opportunities.
The school was founded by Drukpa Thuksey Rinpoche and designed in association with Arup. This school is a not-for-profit institution and receives no direct public funding.
Visit the school through social media via Facebook 
and Instagram
DPKS also has a visitor centre for those interested in ground breaking education, sustainable and ecological design, the Dragon Garden project and 'Rancho's School as featured in the Bollywood blockbuster film The 3 Idiots
Visitor Centre details:
DPKS Visitor Centre and Rancho’s Café
(next to the Shey stupa field)
Shey-Leh, 194101, Union Territory of Ladakh, India
Tel: +91 6006850406 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
World Book Day - Thursday 4th March 2021
World Book Day - de-clutter your books to support us.
“Stories can change a life” Michael Morpurgo.
Celebrate the joy and power of books for World Book Day with #DeclutterAndDonate, at no cost to you.
UK supporters - turn your pre-loved:
• books
• CDs
• games (not PC games)
• DVDs
into cash donations for the Druk Padma Karpo School through the UK’s @WorldBookDayUK challenge.
Not in the UK - what is happening in your country? Perhaps there is something similar you can do to support the Druk Padma Karpo School, Ladakh?
Thanks to the @Ziffit and @VMGiving partnership, it’s easy, fast and free to clear your clutter in the UK and raise funds through Drukpa Trust.
Use the Ziffit app on your phone:
1. download the app
2. scan the barcode on your items
3. select Drukpa Trust at the checkout.
Or use the Ziffit-Drukpa Trust website link:
https://ziffit.com/en-gb/basket?charityResourceId=83192e6e-c1e6-4789-beb6-7cd38003b944
Please share this email with friends, family and colleagues and challenge them to #DeclutterAndDonate
To find out more about this UK initiative please go to:
https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/giving/worldofbooks/fundraisers/
Start a spring clear-out to support the Druk Padma Karpo School in Ladakh.
Happy decluttering for World Book Day.
Continuing Work on the Dragon Garden
On 10th May 2019 Jennifer Chandler returned to the school, again as a volunteer, to continue her work. She was delighted to find some of the cuttings in the nursery had survived the harsh winter and seeds had been collected and stored ready for sowing this year.
While watching Jennifer at work some of the children became very interested and wanted to help. With her encouragement they planted cuttings and seeds in some of the many planters on the school campus.
During her stay, Jennifer, continued her search in the surrounding area for idigenous plants from which she could take cuttings. Flowers like the Himalayan Geranium, the pretty little Dasiphora Dryadanthoides, a member of the rose family, and of course the Ladakhi Rose, Rosa Webbiana.
The goals over the next year are to maintain existing plantings and water system, create more plant materials for planting out next spring and continue to maintain the plant nursery. To help achieve these goals Jennifer left a detailed work project calendar for Tsetan and the new nursery manager, Angmo, to follow over the summer, autumn and winter.
Jennifer has expressed a wish to return to the school in 2020 to continue her work on a voluntary basis. She has been an inspiration to the staff and students and has helped to establish a green campus for the long-term in a high altitude desert landscape.
The Dragon Garden Under Lockdown
This year the apple and apricot trees bore an abundance of fruit which stayed on the trees to ripen. How much was due to the fact that there were no children about to help themselves we shall never know. The Dragon Garden did not fare so well in other respects. Some watering was done and seeds were collected for next year's planting but because of restrictions due to Covid-19 other aspects of the garden suffered. Jennifer Chandler, volunteer landscape architect from USA, was ready to spend some time at the school in June to follow up on her planting strategy but due to travel restrictions she had to cancel her plans.
Future plans of creating a circle of poplar trees around the classroom mandala had to be put on hold. Angdus will set out the poplar circle and prepare it for autumn planting when Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.
DPKS celebrates World Yoga Day
On the 21st June The students celebrated the 6th International Yoga Day. This day is celebrated to raise awareness worldwide about the benefits and importance of Yoga in everyday life. The theme for this year is “Yoga for Health –Yoga at Home”. So, by keeping this theme in mind the students of DPKS practiced at home. The students do regular Yoga, as they know the benefits of Yoga, so now it has become a part of their daily lives. “Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self and to the self”.
STAY FIT and STAY HEALTHY!!
Happy Winter Holiday
Message from Mingur Angmo, acting principal, to the students
"As we break for a long winter holiday, we want to express our gratitude to each one of you for your kind and warm support. Our school is off for a winter break which will start from 13th December, 2020. The motive of this year winter break is to spend a quality time with your family and to get away from mobile phones, by keeping all in our mind we tried to assign such homework which doesn’t need any help of mobile phones. So it’s our humble request to each student to kindly stay away from mobile phones at least during this winter break. Wishing you all a Happy Winter Holiday. May you all have a good time with your families."