Snow Lion Foundation Schools (Nepal)

Snow Lion Foundation was established in 1972 by the Swiss Association for Technical Assistance, SATA, (now Swiss Development Cooperation, SDC/N) to look after the health, education and social welfare of the Tibetan refugees in Nepal. Run by a secretariat of five full-time staff, the Foundation is governed by a seven member Executive Committee who meets every three to four months, and approves all matters concerning policy and finance. The Foundation’s General Assembly consists of 16 member delegates, meets once every year within three months after the annual closing of accounts in mid July. The 9 schools located in Nepal have more autonomy. In case of financial need, these schools have recourse to the DOE. The DOE provides support and guidance to the Tibetan students from Nepal who come to India to either complete their schooling or to pursue higher education. Tibetan Schools various levels are spread across all the Tibetan Settlements in India, Nepal and Bhutan. Since Nepal has the largest concentration of Tibetan refugees outside India, the Department of Education, Dharamsala has accordingly facilitated the opening of a sizeable number of primary and middle schools to provide education opportunity to Tibetans living in the settlements or in the remote regions of Nepal. However these schools being mostly up to primary or middle level, were therefore unable to provide continued higher education. As a result, the children were presented with no option other than to attend Tibetan schools in India, for the reason that other High Schools in Kathmandu do not offer instructions for the Tibetan language. Today there are 9 schools and around 1520 students and 212 staff members in these schools.