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EDUCATION
The Lumbini Social Service Foundation is dedicated to expanding access and improving the quality of education in Lumbini’s most remote rural communities.
Characterized by widespread poverty and limited road access, public services, education, and health services, Rupandhi and Kapilvastu districts face many challenges to development. LSSF believes that by targeting education directly, other aspects of development, such as health and women’s empowerment, can be indirectly and positively supported.
LSSF’s approach to education development is to pioneer schools in disadvantaged communities.
Thousands of children in Lumbini live in villages where there are no schools, and many must walk two hours or more each day just to learn to read and write. It is in these communities that LSSF creates opportunities for education tailored to the growing needs of Lumbini society.
Please click the following links to read about our rural schools.
The core of LSSF’s methodology is the empowerment of local youth.
Our schools are established by recruiting young men and women, providing teacher training, and involving them in the administration of educational programs in their own communities. This integrative approach provides local employment and promotes community involvement. By implementing this grassroots-level methodology, we are able to provide education to approximately 1200 children who would otherwise never have the opportunity to go to school. LSSF currently provides educational opportunities for boys up until the 8th grade, and for girls up until 12th.
Having worked from within these communities for many years, LSSF has also identified girls' education as a key priority.
According to local tradition and customs, women are placed at the center of family, and often play crucial roles in the well-being and health of the entire household.
Unfortunately, however, local customs which perpetuate gender biases and discrimination usually discourage and impede girls from going to school, severely limiting their access to important information on health and sanitation, and inhibiting the development of employable skills.
Deeply aware of the socio-economic challenges faced by rural families in Lumbini, LSSF therefore works with mothers in the villages to promote girls education.
LSSF institutions advocate women’s empowerment, offer vocational training, and discourage child marriage. In our schools, girls are given critical information on health, family planning, and nutrition.
As central figures in their households, girls have an enormous potential to change the future of their society by improving the health and education of their future children.
Please click the following links to read about our girls institutions.
Boys and girls who live outside our area of operation and do not have the means to attend our schools or institutions of higher education are eligible for funding through our various scholarships.
MAITRI SCHOLARSHIP
SUJATA SCHOLARSHIP
OPAM SCHOLARSHIP
PEACE GROVE VOCATIONAL TRAINING SCHOLARSHIP
TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP
Metta School provides education to the 8th grade. In order to support our most vulnerable graduates who do not have the means to continue their education, we offer scholarships for higher education at other institutions. LSSF currently supports 16 students with Maitri Scholarships.
This scholarship is offered in honor of Bhikhu Maitri Mahathera.
This funding supports the pursuit of higher Buddhist studies for nuns, women, and people of high potential who can make outstanding contributions to their community. LSSF currently supports the academic advancement of two women through Sujata scholarship.
This scholarship is offered in honor of Venerable Sujata Guruma.
In cooperation with our supporter OPAM, we offer scholarships to children who are unable to attend our Metta School due to insurmountable distances. OPAM currently provides 60 children from the Ramawapur village area with the funding they need to attend a private school near their homes.
Novice nuns from our Peace Grove Institute who graduate from the Karuna Girls College receive full scholarships to pursue higher education and vocational training. LSSF currently supports 4 young women in nursing and midwifery school. They will be the first girls in their community to become trained medical professionals.
LSSF supports its teachers at the Metta School by providing scholarships for higher education. Given on an as needed basis, teachers at the Metta School can pursue their bachelors of education, for example. This is beneficial for the teacher, our students, and the greater community.
Looking forward, LSSF hopes to continue its mission to open satellite schools in inaccessible, rural communities, where education is needed the most.
Crafted to local necessities, we believe that our curriculum can equip students and their teachers with the skills they need to contribute positively to their communities, as well as develop an awareness of the positive changes needed for the development of their society.
Check out our institutions