Long-term Goals
Mahabir Pun
Himanchal Higher Secondary School has become the center point of community development in Nangi village, offering basic education and vocational training to students from grades K through 12.
No one knows exactly when the school in Nangi was first opened because most of the early founders are no loner living or have moved to other locations. According to village elders, a primary school was established around 1956 by retired Gurkha soldiers of the village who fought in Second World War. These retired soldiers served as teachers during the early years of the school, and though few had been to school themselves, they understood that education was essential for improving the lives of people in a community.

The school original building was small, there were no text books, and the teachers taught by reciting what they had learned in the army. Each student had a wooden board to write on with white soft marble found in a nearby cliff. Students were taught up to the fifth grade, and the classes were moved down to the warmer valleys in winter when the villagers moved their cattle.

In 1966, the school was upgraded to include a middle school. The school received its first teacher who had completed the 10th grade education at this time, and five more classrooms were added. Over the next three decades, the school ran much the same way, though the students eventually were given text books and the government sent a few more teachers who had completed a 10-12th grade education.

On several occasions before 1992, the villagers discussed the possibility of starting a high school in the village. Opinions were divided in village council meetings, and in a vote cast by villagers in 1990, those who were "for" the high school had lost. This did not mean that people who voted against the school were not interested in educating their children – their main concern was how they would pay for the teachers. However, all the villagers unanimously agreed to start a high school in 1992. Each of the 75 retired soldiers in the village contributed their one month's pension, 40 soldiers on active duty contributed one month's salary and a family which had no income from military service provided $12 as a donation. The surrounding villagers also provided financial support and manpower for building the new school. The facilities were upgraded the school from the seventh grade to the eighth grade in January 1993, and Himanchal High School had come into existence.

After the birth of the high school, there has been no negative argument for the existence of the school, and villagers have been working very hard for its continued development. For the past decade, each family in the village has provided at least 30 days of free labor service every year for developing the school facilities and other programs.

The high school from grade one through ten was upgraded to 11th grade in 2002 and 12th grade in 2003. The school from grade one through twelve is called higher secondary school in Nepal. The school is providing education, business and liberal art courses to the students. Students from ten neighboring villages come to Nangi school after they finish 10th grade in their villages.

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