Meeting of the Parents-Teachers Association

Yesterday, the Parents-Teachers Association met on the rooftop of the school to discuss the current issues of the school, Many conclusions were drawn regarding the education of the children and the respective roles of the school and the family.

Parents are expressing their concerns and sharing their suggestions.

The Chairman updates the parents about the last developments of the school

The procession of Godess Durga

In December, the school took part in the procession of Godess Durga, a very old tradition of the Garwhal region which plays an essential integrating role for remote villages, by celebrating in the meantime the Hindu culture of the area. The representation of the God is given a holy dip in the Ganga, and carried through many villages on the way.

The procession walks through the school.

The processions stops in a village, and the villagers offer their greetings to the school and to its French volunteer.

A school in the hills...

The school is located in the hills of Uttarakhand, in a very natural and sound environment. The children can fill their lungs with fresh air and enjoy a breath-taking view on the Himalaya.

Here is what the children see when they look through the classroom's window.

Before...

... and after the monsoon

Mr. Lakhpat Singh Rana, Chairman of the Dr. Jacques Vigne Educational Society

Mr. Lakhpat Singh Rana is the Founder and Chairman of the Dr. Jacques Vigne Educational Society.

In 1987, he met Dr. Jacques Vigne who chose to pay for his studies, and thus obtained a M. Sc. in Mathematics. After having taught for a few years in Haryana, he decided to come back to his native place, Guptakashi, and to launch an English-medium school in the village for the children of the area.
He has been supervising the development of the school ever since.

Today, he still manages the staff and takes care of accountability, documentation, communication, and all the other daily needs of the school. He also teaches Mathematics and Science. He is the head of the School, and makes all decisions regarding its management and its future.

Recently, he also started writing for the Hindustan Times as a local reporter.

The School today, and why we need you !

The School building (ground floor with classrooms and offices and first floor with hostel rooms), the playground and a temporary toilet block.

This year, the school teaches 250 children from Guptakashi and the surrounding villages. It hires 13 teachers and accomodates 20 children in the hostel. The land as well as the buildings are owned by the school.

The JVNS has deliberately chosen to provide education at fair prices, and to adapt the fees to the income of the families. Therefore, it suffers from a chronic lack of funds and it has to face loan repayments.

Current challenges

In order to become self-sustainable, the school needs to grow by increasing the number of children. There is a large demand for an English education in the area, but the school cannot meet it adequately because of this lack of funds.

Moreover, the school needs to extend the provisional affiliation granted by the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE), which requires to build 7 more classrooms and a permanent toilet block.

The school cannot face these issues alone. From 2005 onwards, the French association Actions Jacques Vigne pour l'Inde has raised funds for the construction work. This partnership has been going on without any interference of the foreign association in the mission of the school, and the decisions are always taken by Mr. Lakhpat Singh Rana.

With the help of Dr. Jacques Vigne, we hope to gather the remaining 3 million rupees (for the classrooms and the toilet block) and to ensure a bright future for the children !

A brief history of the school

It all begun in 1993, with the encounter of Lakhpat Singh Rana, a young man living in the village of Guptakashi in a remote area in the Himalaya, and Dr. Jacques Vigne, a French researcher who lives in India. He decided to pay for his studies, and Lakhpat Rana finally entered the university and succeeded in getting a B. Sc. in Mathematics.
After having taught in a few high schools around Delhi, he chose to come back to his native place and set up the first English-medium school in the district (Rudraprayag). In July 2004, the « Dr. Jacques Vigne National School » was born, with 20 students attending the first classes. In April 2005, the school recieved the affilation of the Education Ministry.

Between 2005 and 2008, construction work went on in order to improve the services to the children : a new building was built, with classrooms, toilet blocks, hostel accomodation, a computer room, a library and a laboratory.

Mr. Lakhpat Singh Rana, Chairman of the Dr. Jacques Vigne Educational Society, supervising the construction.

As school starts in April 2009, 250 children are attending the classes. It is a great success for this 5 year-old village school!

Yet, there is still a lot to do if the school is to become self-sustainable...

The blog is open !

Dear friends,

Today is the day our blog opens.

We will first present the history of the School as well as its staff and children.
Then, we will regularly inform you about the Dr. Jacques Vigne National School, the town of Guptakashi, the events organized and the progress of the children.

Since this blog aims at improving the transparency and the communication between the School and its friends, we welcome your feedback and your concerns. Please feel free to comment on the posts or to contact us at this address: DJVNSchool@gmail.com.

We hope you will enjoy this blog as much as we do !
JVNS staff