The Thaddeus School began operating in 2006 with 45 small children. Since then, the school has grown significantly, received its own school building, and now teaches around 200 children from kindergarten to 10th grade. At the end of 2025, Usthi will hand over the project entirely to the Indian partner organization. A meaningful moment and a good time to look back together.
In 2006, the Thaddeus School opened its doors for the first time to 45 children in the village of Bhastara. The village is located about 60 km north of the megacity of Kolkata in eastern India. With the founding of the Thaddeus School, the first English-medium school was established in this predominantly agricultural area. Behind it was the vision of providing children with high-quality education, creating future prospects locally, and counteracting the often hopeless migration to the big city.
Together with an Indian partner organization, Usthi began building up the school operations. As student numbers increased, the rented rooms soon became too small, and construction of an independent school building began. In 2009, the school was able to move into the new two-storey building.
The establishment of the school was made possible by Thaddeus Getzmann, who, together with his personal network, has ensured the school’s financial stability ever since. With the wish to build a school for children affected by poverty in India, he approached Usthi founder Kurt Bürki. From a vision, a school emerged. And from Thaddeus’s originally promised commitment to finance the school’s operations for the first five years grew long-term engagement for the school, its leadership, the teaching team, and the many schoolchildren. For around 20 years, Thaddeus financed and supported the school – and through regular visits, close relationships developed.
The Thaddeus School grows into a vibrant secondary school
What began with 45 small children has grown into a lively school community. In the current school year, 13 teachers and eight additional staff members manage the education of 175 schoolchildren. In addition to English as the main teaching language, the children learn Hindi, India’s national official language, as well as Bengali, the most widely spoken language in the state of West Bengal, to which the village of Bhastara belongs. A special highlight for the children are the school festivals on selected holidays. During these celebrations, the children present small theatre performances, playfully exploring themes such as how to handle smartphones, visiting a doctor, or everyday scenes – bringing smiles to both performers and the audience.
In 2018, the very first children of the Thaddeus School had grown into young adults and graduated after passing their 10th-grade exams. Since then, many children have completed their schooling and, thanks to high-quality education and especially strong English skills, have been well prepared for the next stage of their lives.
A new chapter begins
A new chapter will also begin for the Thaddeus School in 2026. At the end of 2025, Usthi will fully transfer responsibility for financing and operating the school to the Indian partner organization. Over recent decades, the partner organization has grown and developed its own funding sources. In addition a part of the school’s expenses can be covered locally.
The project handover was celebrated during the school visit in November. Together, Thaddeus Getzmann, his son Roger Getzmann, the Usthi team, as well as teachers and schoolchildren planted a Chikoo tree – a symbol of rootedness as well as growth, health, and abundance. Just like the children who will grow up at this school in the future, this tree will grow with them and bear sweet fruit in a few years. May the past two decades of building and developing the Thaddeus School continue to serve as fertile ground for the future.
For Usthi, the handover of the Thaddeus School project also marks the conclusion of the collaboration with the responsible Indian partner organization.
