Established as a private initiative in 2000 in Whitefield, Bangalore, in the Indian state of Karnataka, in 2001 the non-profit organisation ES Tibet was founded in Switzerland.

The foundation is based in Zürich, and since 2006 the Kunpan Cultural School for 24[1] students is in Dharamshala in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

Living too far away from schools, Tibetans who grow up in the rural areas of Tibet often have no possibility to attend a basic scholar education.

In addition, on October 12, 2001, ES Tibet was founded in Zürich, Switzerland, as a non-profit organisation to support and finance the school for those young refugees.

At the beginning of 2002, courses for twenty students in Whitefield, Bangalore, Karnataka, started in a building that had rooms enough to provide living quarters and classrooms.