Druk White Lotus School, Khachey, opened its doors on 10th April 2010 with Nursery, Lower Kindergarten and Upper Kindergarten classes.  The school is located in the Kargil District of Ladakh, about 7 hours' drive from the mother school in Shey.

The school has around twenty students, two teachers (Ms Tsewang Dolkar and Ms Tsering Chozom) and a support staff member. One teacher is a graduate with a strong background in English language and sports, and the other is an undergraduate with a strong Bothi language background.  One reason for starting the Khachey School was to provide education in English and Bothi languages in an area that predominately focuses on Urdu.  Staff underwent training at the mother school in Shey before the school opening.  The school was initiated by and is owned by the local community. 

The inauguration ceremony was well attended by villagers and the school has their wholehearted support.  They are paying for one teacher and need your support to pay for the other @ Rs12,000 / US$260 / €215 / £180 per month. Villagers are paying half the cost of the Montessori equipment and need your help to pay the other half: Rs42,225 / US$900 / €750 / £620.

Thank you for joining our community.

Two very successful screenings of the '3 Idiots' box-office hit took place in the UK in March 2010 to raise funds for the school.
The secret story behind the smash hit film is that Druk White Lotus School is trying to be just the kind of school that encourages creativity, enthusiasm and intelligence that the film promotes.

The Letchworth screening was arranged in conjunction with St Christopher School Letchworth, a partner school of Druk White Lotus. Here, and at the central London screening, members of the audience were delighted when they saw the Druk White Lotus School on screen, where it had been used for some of the filming!

Filming of the '3 Idiots' at Druk White Lotus School was very exciting for the students and staff - read more

With grateful thanks to Vidhu Vinod Chopra Productions, Reliance BIG Pictures, Cineworld, Broadway Cinema Letchworth and Aamir Khan.

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Many Thanks,

Druk White Lotus School

DWLS is making the transition from traditional to child-centred teaching methods and currently has 705 students on the roll.

Due to increased student numbers and expansion of the curriculum and services, for the new academic year Nov 2013 - September 2014 Druk White Lotus School - known to many as Rancho's School - invites applications for the following post/s (applications to be submitted by 31 October 2013):

• None at present

Only qualified and experienced applicants with an intimate knowledge of the Indian education system should apply.  Further information about DWLS is available elsewhere on this website.

Applications and enquiries please to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

2 screenings of the '3 Idiots' box-office hit are arranged in aid of our school, which was used in the filming.
The secret story by the smash hit film is that Druk White Lotus School is trying to be just the kind of school that promotes creativity, enthusiasm and intelligence that the film promotes.

Do join us at either screening:

London: Saturday 6th March 1.00pm at Cineworld Haymarket,
63-65 Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4RL.
Tickets on the door, £10, cash payment only.

Letchworth: Wednesday 3rd March 6.00pm at Broadway Cinema,
Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, SG6 3DG.
Tickets £8 from Reception at St Christopher School, Letchworth, SG6 3JZ  and from 'David's Bookshop', Letchworth.

Filming of the '3 Idiots' at Druk White Lotus School was very exciting for the students and staff - read more

With grateful thanks to Vidhu Vinod Chopra Productions, Reliance BIG Pictures, Cineworld and Aamir Khan,

The 3 Idiots movie became Bollywood's biggest box-office success at the time, both in India and globally, and the Druk Padma Karpo School was used as a location for some of the filming.

The above photo shows the 'Idiotic Wall' which was featured in the movie and now attracts thousands of visitors every year who come to have their photos taken in front of the iconic wall. They also visit the school's visitor centre and Rancho's cafe, named after the hero of the movie, played by Bollywood legend Aamir Khan.

A film crew of about 130 people descended on the school in September 2008 for the 3-day shoot. They auditioned the students and selected a couple of boys for small parts, and a larger group to take part in the movie crowd scene when the stars arrive at the school in their red Volvo. Observing the hard work and professionalism of the stars and crew was an education for the school staff and students alike.

During the film crew's visit, Aamir Khan wrote in the School Visitor Book:  "What a wonderful school. The kids seem very happy, and such a great location. Keep up the good work."  Regards, Aamir 15/09/08.

The crew then departed for Pangong Lake with a few of the students to shoot the final scenes.

Click here to see the official 3 Idiots trailer.

Druk Padma Karpo has links with educational establishments outside Ladakh, especially in the UK, France and USA. Ladakhis and the international partners benefit immensely from this cooperation.

For example, students and staff from St Christopher School, Letchworth, UK, have visited Druk Padma Karpo School several times and Alton College, UK, twice to contribute their time and energy to learning through fun, and help materially by financing items of school equipment. Architectural students from universities in the United States came to Shey for one month during summer 2009 and summer 2010 as part of the BaSiC Initiative Program, led by Professor Sergio Pelleroni. They helped in various ways, ranging from erecting a traditional nomadic dwelling (a ‘rebo’), making prototype shading devices and constructing a new Visitor Centre.

They also made a slideshow presentation of their visit - download the pdf here.

Construction after the long winter started again in April 2012 with work on two Secondary School classrooms, finishing the defensive structure on the Eastern boundary and work on landscaping the school campus. The North block of Residence 4 will be starting soon too - a very busy summer construction season for Angdus (Construction Manager) and his team.

New Faces in the DPKS Family

Several new staff members joined the team at the beginning of November 2009:

When you travel by plane or by ground transportation powered by diesel or gasoline, you cause carbon dioxide (CO₂) to be emitted into the atmosphere and you contribute to climate change. You can ‘offset’ this impact by investing an amount corresponding to the value of the carbon involved into a scheme elsewhere that reduces CO₂ emissions. You can do this by investing in the independently-accredited Druk Padma Karpo solar energy scheme.

The mains electricity supply in Ladakh was highly unreliable and therefore the school was previously forced to use a diesel generator to produce power to run lights, computers and the office equipment. However, the generator was polluting a fragile environment and we therefore determined to become energy self-sufficient through the use of solar energy.  Stage 1 was achieved in 2008 with the installation of photovoltaic panels and inverters. Spare panels and inverters have been purchased and in late 2012 an additional installation of panels and inverters was completed to increase capacity to meet the demands of the expanding school.

The solar scheme was independently audited and approved by TICOS, the Tourism Industry Carbon Offsetting Service, now called Beyond Carbon, and travellers may offset their carbon travel footprint by making a payment towards the school's solar energy system. You may like to use carbon offset costs prepared by ClimateCare www.climatecare.org and use their carbon offset calculator and then pay your carbon offset directly to the school via this website.

Such funds are restricted to financing solar energy equipment on the Shey campus, and to continue to keep the diesel generator switched off (other than in emergencies).