About Us

The name “Trashi Yangtse” describes a good, spacious location at a high altitude. Tashi Yangtse Lower Secondary School is located on the gentle slope just below the village of Baychen in Yangtse Geog, Trashi Yangtse Dzongkhag. The school campus comprises an area of 6.10 acres between the Berzamchu and Serkangchu streams.

The school was founded in 1961 as a primary school. It was locally known as Chubardung which means “the village between two streams”. The school began with hundred students. They were forcibly admitted as, at that time, students and parents were unaware of the value of education. Mr. Soma Sunda Ram was the first Head Teacher and Lop. Dechen Lhendup the only other teaching staff. The school began with two buildings: an academic block with five units and a teacher’s quarter with two units. These were constructed during Drungpa Sonam with all labor and materials (except CGI sheets) provided by the community.

In 1962, China declared a sudden war on India causing an enormous disturbance to our country. The school was closed for about a month when its teachers and students fled the region along with other community members. When the conflict concluded and school returned to session, enrollment began a steady increase. In 1965, two more buildings were constructed to accommodate the growth.

In those early years, Trashi Yangtse School was the only school in the area. It provided education to the children of Bumdeling, Khamdang, and Yangtse Geog. The children of the far Geogs brought their provisions and put up with relatives in makeshift huts. Conditions improved during Drungpa Thinley’s time. In 1975, hostels, a kitchen and dining hall, and more academic blocks were constructed. In 1976, the school became a World Food Programme [WFP] beneficiary providing students with blankets, towels, spoons, plates, and delicious food.

After the upgrade of Trashi Yangtse Dungkhag to Dzongkhag in 1992, the Education Division observed the need to further improve the infrastructure of the school. In 1998, with the assistance of the UNCDF project, three of the old buildings (the original academic block and teacher’s quarters and the kitchen cum store) were dismantled and replaced by seventeen (17) new concrete RCC one-storied buildings.

A football ground with retaining walls was also constructed. All of these new facilities caused the school to be upgraded from a primary standard to a high school for the 1998 academic year.

The high school grades were introduced gradually: Class VII in 1998, Class VIII in 1999, and so on. In 2000, the school educated all of the Class IX students in Trashi Yangtse Dzongkhag as well as some students of Lhuentse and Pemagatshel Dzongkhag for a total of 170 Class IX students in four sections. The old dining hall (presently serving as the store), the teacher’s quarters, a two-roomed classroom building, a three-roomed classroom building, and the old boys’ hostel building were all revamped at that time.

In 2001, the school received another four sections of class IX students and had, for the first time Class X students (150 in four sections). Thus, in 2001, the school was a full-fledged High School encompassing students from Class PP to X. To accommodate this rapid growth, the school added one semi-permanent two-roomed classroom building, a boys’ hostel, and a two-storied concrete RCC building of four units for use as teachers’ quarters.

2003 was a year of great fulfillment to the Yangtse people in general and Yangtse students in particular as Class XI was introduced at a new facility, Baylling Higher Secondary School. It initially accommodated one section of Arts students and two sections of Commerce students and has since added a Science stream.

In 2008, WFP assistance to Tashi Yangtse School ceased. The school became a Lower Secondary day school for grades PP to VIII. Successful graduates proceed to Baylling Higher Secondary School.