Nawang Rabten heeds the King’s request and decides to help bring education to one of the remotest parts of Bhutan. This turns out to be no easy job to accomplish, and the film is a record of his various adventures fulfilling this quest.
First of all there is a journey which, with rests to acclimatize, takes 18 days to walk from the last road and town to the village in question, a strenuous trek, which Nawang is not used to, over a great and high pass.
When he gets there he sets up his school and gets everything ready. There is only one thing missing: he has no students, because even young hands are needed to help with yak herding, work around the house, and helping trading fathers.
Eventually he does manage to get some children together, and school starts. But his arrival is already 4 months into the term, he takes a couple of weeks to organise some pupils, and before you know it the semi-nomadic peoples have to move on before the snows block their way.
This is a short, but very moving, film by Dorji Wangchuk about this young teacher and his attempts to set up a school and improve the lot of the next generation, and the difficulties he had to overcome along the way.
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I hope the “Yak in the Classroom” film will give this documentary more mention as the Oscars are aired. This is the story that the obviously used for their film. I”m glad they listed this in the credits or I would never have found it. Wonderful documentary!
I agree. I am glad they listed it. I give credit to the teachers and to the parents of the village children who were permitted to go to school.
Amazing documentary which should be known everywhere, it goes above and beyond the “Yak in the Classroom” film . A lot to learn from “School Among Glaciers”: understanding, perseverance, modest, reverence to mother nature and much more. Thank you!