Ozako Mission & Schools

The Queen of Peace English Medium School, located in Ozako village of Longding District, Arunachal Pradesh, was established in 2015. It was created in response to repeated requests from youth leaders and village elders who recognized the need for quality education within their own region. Many had themselves been educated in Christian institutions in other states, and they desired the same opportunity for the children of their community.

The school offers access to formal education, especially to tribal children from economically marginalized families. Before its establishment, children had extremely limited opportunities; due to poor road connectivity, lack of public transport, and very low financial capacity, many discontinued schooling early or never attended at all.

At present, the Queen of Peace School operates in a makeshift kutcha structure, composed largely of bamboo walls, tin sheets, and a thatched leaf roof. The buildings are highly vulnerable to weather fluctuations, heat, and rain, and the flooring is unfinished earth. The learning environment is constrained by:

• Very limited classroom space
• Lack of proper ventilation and lighting
• Absence of safe storage or dedicated rooms
• High exposure to wind and monsoon conditions

The temporary structures, though built with local effort and community participation, cannot accommodate the growing number of students or support higher-level academic programmes.

The school currently offers classes from Kindergarten to Grade V, with an enrollment of 210 children. These students come not only from Ozako but also from several surrounding villages, many located deep in the hills with extremely poor access routes.

Because of the long distances and rough terrain, many children struggle with daily attendance, often walking several kilometres through muddy or stone-laden pathways. In some seasons this becomes unsafe or impossible, leading to high absenteeism.

Longding is one of the most remote and underdeveloped districts of Arunachal Pradesh. Transport infrastructure is profoundly limited:

• Roads are narrow, unpaved, and often washed out during rains
• Public transportation is virtually non-existent
• Many families depend on walking or using two-wheelers on unsafe mountain routes
• Transporting building materials or school supplies requires long-distance manual effort or extremely high transport costs

These conditions also affect the teachers, who must travel from distant places and often stay for extended periods. The remoteness of the area leaves few educational alternatives, making Queen of Peace School the primary structured learning centre for the region.

The Society of Missionaries of Peace Fathers plays an essential role in sustaining the mission in Ozako village:

• Managing the school's administrative and academic activities
• Providing pastoral and moral support to the children
• Organizing community engagement for education
• Training local volunteers and promoting discipline and values
• Supporting parents who cannot afford school-related expenses

This presence ensures continuity, stability, and accountability even in the most challenging conditions — giving the congregation both the institutional maturity and the practical field experience required to implement sustainable development projects.