LEH : The Druk Padma Karpo School in Ladakh, popularly known as “Rancho’s school”, may finally get the much-awaited Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) affiliation this year, two decades since it was founded.
The school has received clearance from the Jammu and Kashmir board after a long delay. The CBSE affiliation norms demand that applicant schools produce a no- objection certificate from the respective state board.
The Ladakh school, which shot to fame after it was featured in the Aamir Khan-starrer movie 3 Idiots in 2009, is at present affiliated to the Jammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education (JKBOSE). Even after the bifurcation, schools in Ladakh continue to be affiliated to the Jammu and Kashmir board.
“We have been trying to get our school affiliated to the CBSE for many years,” Druk Padma Karpo School principal Mingur Agmo said. “Though we have all the required infrastructure in place, a record of excellent results and focus on innovative ways of teaching and learning, we didn’t get the NOC from JKBOSE despite several attempts all these years.”
The document finally arrived in January 2022 and the school authorities are now busy completing the rest of the formalities for affiliation. “We are hoping that we will get the affiliation this year and there will be no more hurdles,” Agmo added.
A committee had last year proposed establishment of a new territorial board in Ladakh with an aim to fulfil the “realistic needs of students as per the natural conditions of the region”.
The 21-year-old school is named after Mipham Pema Karpo (1527-1592), who is revered as a great scholar, while Padma Karpo means ‘white lotus’ in Bothi, the local language.
Students of the school study Bothi, English and Hindi, plus sciences, social studies, creative arts and sports. They are trained in life and livelihood skills, team work, presentation skills, leadership and problem-solving through formal and co-curricular activities.
“Currently, students are on a winter break and we decided that this winter break will be a ‘no gadgets’ holiday,” the principal said. “Due to the pandemic, we started classes through smartphones though it still continues to be a challenge as there is no internet stability in some of the hilly terrains so we have given only offline homework to students during the break.”
The wall of the school’s building was featured in the closing scene of 3 Idiots. The ‘iconic idiotic wall’ — part of a building which was damaged in the 2010 flash floods — still remains but the first floor, earlier made of bricks, has been replaced with wooden structures typically used in Ladakh.
The school decided in 2018 to relocate “Rancho’s wall” to ensure that students didn’t get distracted by tourists.
