Help setting up of a STEM Lab for students of one of remotest High School in Uttarakhand Himalaya

Janta Uchattar Madhyamik Vidhyalaya (JUMV) in Dumak, Chamoli, is a community-led secondary school that transformed an isolated Himalayan village from severe educational deprivation to significantly enhanced educational attainment and diversified livelihoods between 2000 and 2025.

Dumak, a remote agro-pastoral village at about 1,900 meters in Uttarakhand’s Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, long lacked road access, reliable services, and basic infrastructure, with residents walking 18 km to the nearest road and depending on distant Gopeshwar for health, education, and public distribution services. Until the late 1990s, schooling was available only up to grade 8, and just twelve villagers had education beyond this level, as further study required children to live far away in town.

Facing government norms that required higher student numbers for a state school, villagers collectively decided in 1998 to start their own private secondary school so children could complete grade 10 within the village. They opened JUMV in a community shelter, donated land, and committed monthly financial contributions, while three locally trained youths taught on modest honoraria.

 On 29 June 2000, the state government recognized JUMV as a private unaided high school affiliated to the Uttar Pradesh board, enabling grades 9–10 and board examinations. Over the next decade, community support helped construct a dedicated building, procure furniture and teaching materials, develop a playground, and build stable staffing, while enrollment grew from 12 students in 2000–01 to 39 in 2001–02, achieving universal secondary enrollment for both boys and girls.

Although the management sought government aid early, the process was slow and initially weakened community enthusiasm. In March 2011, Uttarakhand’s government sanctioned financial assistance covering salaries for four teachers and one office assistant, after which JUMV functioned as an aided private school while the management committee continued to fund maintenance and other running costs, preserving community ownership.

By its 25th anniversary in 2024–25, JUMV had enrolled 357 students (187 male, 170 female) and enabled 203 to complete secondary education, with every graduate moving on to senior secondary study. Nearly half of these graduates (94) have completed or are pursuing undergraduate or postgraduate degrees, and 117 alumni are engaged in salaried or higher-level economic activities, including 19 in government and 76 in private sector jobs, reducing dependence on traditional agro-pastoral livelihoods and broadening aspirations for the village youth.