In 2018, Tong-Len decided to run its own school within the hostel complex. Following a successful application to the state education department, Tong-Len was registered to offer education up to grade 8 and the charity duly opened its doors to students in April 2018 (SEE THE VIDEO HERE). Subsequently, Tong-Len was registered to extend the education offered up to grade 10. More than 300 children now attend the new school which comprises classes from pre-school through to grade 10. The establishment of the school has meant that Tong-Len has the ability to provide a full-time education to the slum children not accommodated in the hostels. Children are collected daily from the slum camps in the Kangra valley to be taken to the school. For these, the Tong-Len school is their only chance of an education. In the Tong-Len school they receive food and care as well as an excellent holistic education.
Tong-Len is delighted to report on the success of the new school. The teaching staff are excellent and the children are enthusiastically engaged in their studies. Prior to opening the school, the teachers that have been employed took part in an intensive 10-day programme of staff development, run by a team of five facilitators. The classes involved considerable interaction between the teacher and the students. The teachers engage with students primarily in English and the students are encouraged to give responses to questions in English as far as possible. There is a strong emphasis on ‘active learning’.
The curriculum follows the one approved nationally, although it also embraces holistic education and secular ethics (see the school web site tonglenschool.org for more information).
Older hostel children in grades 11 and 12 attend local schools..
Tong-Len continues to operate a child nutrition and early education centre in the slums, primarily for the under-fives.