First Day of School

So after months of looking at schools, being treated badly by some of them and generally being given the run around, "Come back in March" - In March: "Oh, come back on the 27th".... Tenzing (my maid) and I finally found a school for her son. Tenzing's son, Tenzing (it's actually their last name), is 7 and he started school April 1st for the first time:) It was really an interesting process for me. There are three types of schools; government (which are not free but very cheap), public (which are private but mid-range cost) and private (which tend to be boarding schools). I was told by everyone here that Government schools are to be avoided, it is possible to get a good education but not always and that they are especially not good for boys (although I suspect that's just because people value boys' education more). Also though, since they are Tibetans in exile they don't have the proper papers to enroll in a government school so it would be quite difficult.

The initial fees (which they call a donation) run from $20 to $300 (most that we looked at were about $100 - which is one month of Tenzing's salary). The more expensive schools don't include books and uniforms in those fees, the cheaper ones do. And then monthly fees range from $10 to $30. Busses are extra in all cases. I was very torn as to which type of school to agree to. I want Tenzing to be able to continue sending her son there after I leave so I don't want the fees to be too much and our agreement was that I would pay the initial fees and she would pay the monthly ones, so she needed to be able to afford those. We (she) finally found a school in the lower end that seems okay.

I was also torn as to what to pay for - obviously these costs are not high, for me. So why not just pay it all? In the end, I wanted her to be investing in the education as well (it's the reason PSI doesn't give its products away for free - people value things they pay for). I also didn't want to just pay for all the fun stuff (backpacks and lunch boxes). But I agreed to pay for her son to continue with a private tutor as well, as I suspect that it will be a struggle to start school all of a sudden, and I paid for uniforms and books (which at $40 seemed very expensive for India - I think the school is profiting). But you have to love his uniform, right?

It makes me very happy to know he's in school.