The Bodhgaya School

The Maitreya Universal Education pilot school in Bodhgaya has around 400 daytime students from Kindergarten to Class 12. In the evening, informal classes are also offered for around 100 children as well as some adults who cannot attend in the daytime.

Maitreya school in Bodhgaya provides a warm, caring and happy environment, free from fear and prejudice, and integrate special elements with a standard academic programme. An important way our students reach out to the community is through our Music and Drama Programme. Please see the video of our annual school concert on this page.

Some facts about Bodhgaya...

About 120,000 people live in the Bodhgaya "block".

The majority are Hindu and about 15-20% is Muslim.

30% are "scheduled caste" i.e. people legally recognised as suffering discrimination.

22% of the population is under the age of six.

Literacy rates are: 49% for men; 24% for women.

The school occupies a two storey building on a ¾ acre site about 2 km from the centre of Bodhgaya and most of the students come from poor families in surrounding villages.

No fees are charged and the school provides uniforms, books, meals and healthcare. The school also provides residential accommodation for a small number of children who either need special care and attention or may not otherwise be able to attend school. Admission guidelines are designed to give preference to children from poorer families and ensure that girls make up at least 50% of enrolments.

The school employs 22 full-time teachers, seven part-time teachers and 9 non-teaching staff, all of whom are local people. Western teachers and other volunteers assist with teacher training and curriculum development.

The majority of people rely on subsistence agriculture or menial labour to support their families. In this part of India people experience many problems including poverty, landlessness and conflict over land tenure, inadequate healthcare, high infant mortality, inter-caste violence, crime and illiteracy.

School Policies

Admission

Admissions guidelines are designed to:

ensure children from poorer families have an opportunity to attend the school.
ensure that girls make up at least 50% of enrolments.
maintain a mix of religious backgrounds in the school that reflects that of the local community.
favour children from local villages.

Free residential accomodation is provided for a limited number of boys requiring special care and attention.

Accreditation

At Class 10 and 12 our students sit national examinations conducted by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), whichis a national authority established to offer recognised examinations at matriculation and intermediate levels to students throughout India who do not have access to other recognised examinations. The NIOS intermediate qualifications are recognised by the Association of Indian Universities and individually by universities all over India.