Padma Odzer Choeling School

Education is about helping children to acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes that will be useful throughout their lives. Education also unlocks children's potential and contributes to the development of societies.
It is vital that children's education is of good quality, useful and relevant to their lives.

Too often schools emphasise rote learning and the memorising of facts rather than enhancing children's ability to learn. Discipline in some schools can also be overly harsh, which prompts children to drop out, or discourages them from going to school in the first place.

HDFS supports teacher training that helps teachers understand how children learn and develop. We also encourage active learning techniques, participation in classroom activities and creative methodologies. With this approach, HDFS established the Padma Odzer Choeling School.

The school began operations on 4th April 2001. The name Padma Odzer Choeling depicts a learning place where there is purity in thought and action and hope all through. The School was formally inaugurated by Ambassador of Switzerland His Excellency Mr. Walter B. Gyger on 6th April 2003.

The school was started with just a building and a few students but since then it has grown with the addition of more annexes and several more facilities for children in the junior and senior classes. The school is affiliated to the C.B.S.E. [Central Board of Secondary Education], New Delhi. Today there are nearly 300 students and they all come from different parts of Sikkim. At present the school has classes from pre-primary to Class X. The first batch of 22 students completed their Class X Board exams in March 2005.

The teacher - student ratio (about 1:19) is one of the lowest in the country, thus ensuring that quality education is imparted to these young minds.
Apart from academic studies, the students also participate in other co-curricular activities such as computers, music, painting and sports. The school also has a choir group which has performed on a number of special occasions at the Sikkim state level.

The school has a well-equipped computer centre, Science labs, a well-stocked library and even a TV room for educational films. The school has two playgrounds for games such as football/cricket and two basketball and volleyball courts. There are various other indoor and outdoor games facilities for the children.