The 2nd phase development of the Tibetan Transit School (Sherab Gatseling) in Khanyara, Dharamsala is the fourth EC cofunded project. The project will provide the school with a dining hall accommodating 700 and staff accommodation.

The project was started in January 2002 and will be completed in 2005. EC has committed 75 % of the funds and Tibet House Trust will contribute euros 118,017 and balance of euros 69,908 will be contributed by the local partner.

The project will provide basic educational facilities for Tibetan refugees, who have recently arrived in India. Having left Tibet with little or no education, they will need basic literacy and vocational skills in order to be able to find employment and cope in their new situation.

The Transit School has been in existence since 1993, with make-shift classrooms and hostels constructed with galvanised iron sheets. The unbearable heat in summer, the heavy monsoon rains and the icy winter have caused health problems for students, and recruiting and retaining of staff has been an ongoing problem.

Original plans were to house 360 students, but there are already over 650 as the influx of refugees continues. The School provides a 5- year programme, enabling students to achieve Year 12 standard, equivalent to A—level in England. Vocational skills training cover carpentry, electrical engineering and thangka painting and tailoring. There is a wellequipped computer studies course. There are currently 53 teachers.

Right picture: EC Delegation from Delhi with trainees and staff at the inauguration of the Centre for Textile & Garment Design, India another co-funded project completed in March