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(information is from www.tibet.com) Department of Education Information 1995-96 Mrs. Rinchen K. Choegyal (Education Minister) Mr. Tsering Thondup (Education Secretary) Mrs. Nangsa Chodon (Joint Secretary) Department of Education
INTRODUCTION Five years have elapsed since the last publication of the Department of Education's information brochure. In the absence of such a brochure for DOE, many people who take interest in our activities have often asked questions such as: What are the objectives of DOE? What is DOE doing to achieve them? What are DOE's plans for future? etc. This brochure, DOE Info 95/96, though brief, will answer these questions. Our accomplishments are the outcomes of joint efforts on many fronts. We remain indebted to the Government of India, various foreign individuals and organizations, and community members for their support. Since our goals are not yet accomplished, we earnestly request your cooperation and assistance.
BACKGROUND Tibet was Invaded by China in 1949. In 1959, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and over 85,000 Tibetans fled to India, after 10 years of unsuccessful attempt to negotiate with China. His Holiness presently lives in Dharamsala, a small town In the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, where he heads the Tibetan government in exile, also called the Central Tibetan Administration. Currently, there are about 130,000 Tibetans in exile, the majority of whom live in India (100,000) and Nepal (15,000). There are about 1,500 Tibetans in Bhutan.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (DOE) On coming into exile, one of the highest priorities of His Holiness the Dalai Lama was the education of Tibetan children many of whom were orphaned. He believed that the Tibetan children were the main source of hope for a future free Tibet. An educational system had to be implemented that would provide a modern education to the Tibetan children while maintaining their language and culture. Established in 1960 under the name 'Council for Tibetan Education', the DOE is one of the seven major departments of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).
Its aims and objectives are:
Initially, the DOE's activities were limited to schools. Now its services have expanded to incorporate care of younger children (3-5 years), support and guidance for school graduates (17-18 years), and either formal or non-formal education for adults. This expansion includes the DOE's collaboration with other Tibetan institutions such as, Central Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies (ClHTS), Varanasi; Institute of Buddhist Dialectics (lBD), Dharamsala; Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA), Dharamsala; and Tibetan Cultural Printing Press (TCPP), Dharamsala; to integrate their efforts for preservation and promotion of the Tibetan cultural heritage.
Organizational structure of DOE Headed by the Education Minister and the Education Secretary, DOE Is divided into five sections, each name according to the nature of its functions.
Figure 1: Organizational Structure of DOE
The five sections are staffed by 34 members. 14 of them have been appointed by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA); the remaining 20 have been directly hired by the Department.
SCHOOL SYSTEMS AND CATEGORIES The DOE oversees the education and welfare of over 27,500 students in 85 Tibetan schools in India, Nepal and Bhutan. By necessity, these schools follow the education system of the country in which they are located. The pattern of education; design and implementation of curriculum; methods of teaching; and styles of school management in these countries are frequently similar. Tibetan schools, however, emphasize the incorporation of Tibetan language and culture within the regular curriculum and after-school programs.
Table 1: Number at Schools in India, Nepal and Bhutan
The 85 Tibetan schools can be grouped into three categories depending on which institution funds and administers them. Please see Table 1
CTSA schools At the request of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Government of India, in 1961, established the Tibetan Schools Society (now called Central Tibetan Schools Administration), an autonomous body regulated by the Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development, to "manage and assist schools In India for education of th children of Tibetan refugees". The DOE firmly believes that every Tibetan child should given the opportunity to receive a school education. It makes every effort to help the children of poorer families to enter schools. The Governing Body of Central Tibetan Schools Administration (CTSA), its main administrative authority, is chaired by the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Its members consist of four Indians (two representatives of the Ministry of External Affairs: one representative of the Ministry of Home Affairs; and the Secretary of CTSA) and four Tibetans (Education Minister; Education Secretary; the Secretary of the Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, New Delhi; and the Director of the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Varanasi). There are 31 CTSA schools whose enrollment is about 13,000 students. The five of them (CST, Mussoorie; CST, Shimla; CST, Dalhousie; CST, Darjeeling; and CST, Mundgod) that provide hostel and boarding facilities to a total of about 1,700 students are known as 'residential schools'. The remaining 26 that do not have such facilities are known as 'day schools'. All services in the day schools are provided free of cost. The CTSA also provides full school fees for about 350 boarders in the residential schools; school fees for the remaining 1,350 boarders are paid through the DOE. The operation of the CTSA schools is essentially a joint venture between the DOE and the CTSA. The DOE recommends candidates to the CTSA for the appointment of a Tibetan 'rector' in each of the five residential schools. Appointment of teachers for Tibetan language, dance and music in all CTSA schools is based on recommendation from the DOE.
DOE schools There are 33 schools in this group. The 16 DOE schools in India are directly funded and administered by the DOE. The 13 schools in Nepal and 4 schools in Bhutan are given more independence. In case of financial need, these schools have recourse to the DOE. The DOE provides support and guidance to the Tibetan students from Nepal and Bhutan who come to India to either complete their schooling or to pursue higher education.
Autonomous schools The 21 schools in this group comprise of 15 schools that are funded and administered by Tibetan Children's Village (TCV), Dharamsala; 2 schools that are funded and administered by Tibetan Homes Foundation (THF), Mussoorie; and 4 schools that are managed by other Tibetan charitable organizations.
STRUCTURE OF EDUCATION The modern secular education that the Tibetan students in India , Nepal and Bhutan typically receive is based on a structure that consists of: (a) 2-3 years of pre school education in crèches/day care centers; (b) 12 years of school education; and (c) 3 or more years of post school education. Please see Figure 2. In India, for example, Tibetan schools are affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), New Delhi, and follow the '10 + 2' education pattern. This scheme consists of 10 years of general education and 2 years of diversified into four levels; primary (class 1-5), middle (class 6-8), secondary (class 9-10), and senior secondary (class 11-12). Currently, four fields of study are offered at the senior secondary level in Tibetan schools: (a) arts; (b) science; (c) commerce; and (d) vocational education.
Figure 2 Structure of Education
Table 2 shows that the 85 Tibetan schools are comprised of 40 primary schools; 24 middle schools, 10 secondary schools; and 11 senior secondary schools.
Table 2 Distribution of Schools in Different School Levels
SCHOOL ENROLLMENT The Tibetan school network currently has an enrollment of about 27,585 students. Table 3 shows the distribution of these students in India, Nepal and Bhutan.
Table 3: Distribution of Students in India, Nepal and Bhutan
Table 4 shows the distribution of students among different school levels. Table 4 Distribution of Students in Different School Levels
Although Tibetan schools are essentially established to cater to the educational and welfare needs of Tibetan children, non-Tibetan children are sometimes admitted given special circumstances. Presently, non-Tibetan children constitute about 10 percent of the total student population within the Tibetan school network. According to the second IDP survey (1994), about 25 percent or 30,000 of the total Tibetan refugee population in India, Nepal and Bhutan were of the school age (6-17). The current school enrollment of 27,585 students includes 4,442 children below the age of 6 and about 2,300 non-Tibetan students between class 1 and 12. It is estimated, therefore, that about 70 percent of the school age (6-17 years old) Tibetans in exile receive school education within the Tibetan school network. About 3,000 Tibetan students attend non-Tibetan schools due to scarcity of vacancy in the existing Tibetan schools. A substantial portion of the 20 percent school are Tibetans who do are not covered by the Tibetan school network of the non-Tibetan schools may be enrolled in various Tibetan monastic institutions. Please see Figure 3.
Figure 3 Enrollment of School-age (6-17) Tibetans
CURRICULUM AND TEXTBOOKS Tibetan schools in India, Nepal and Bhutan follow a school curriculum approved by a Board of Education which is recognized by their respective national governments. Tibetan schools in India, for example, use textbooks in English, published by the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT), New Delhi. These textbooks are based on the curriculum prescribed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), New Delhi. Tibetan language, history and culture, however, constitute a major part of the curriculum in all Tibetan schools. The DOE designs and publishes Tibetan language textbooks for all school grades. Since July 1994, DOE has endorsed the use of Tibetan as the language of instruction at the primary level (class 1-5) in all Tibetan schools. The necessary primary school textbooks are publishes by the Education Development and Research Center (EDRC), based at Tibetan Children's Village (TCV), Dharamsala.
TEACHER TRAINING Teachers of Tibetan language, history and culture are trained at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics (IBD), Dharamsala, and the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (CIHTS), Varansi. Training for the Tibetan dance and music teachers are organized at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA), Dharamsala. Training of teachers for other school subjects, however, takes place at various institutes/colleges of Teacher Education throughout India. Every year, DOE, TCV and THF provide significant number of scholarships to prospective candidates for teaching careers. They also organize in-service teacher training to keep their current teachers abreast of developments in education.
SCHOLARSHIPS An average of 600 students graduate from school each year. About 200 of them (30 percent) receive scholarships for further education (ranging from certificate courses to higher degrees), through DOE, TCV, THF and other institutions. Currently, there are about 800 students in India and about 50 students abroad pursuing post school education. During the four-year period (1990-93), DOE, TCV and CTSA together provided 632 scholarships for studies in India. The scholarship recipients were 64 percent male and 36 percent female. The distribution of these scholarships for three levels of education was: (a) 15 percent for students who had dropped out of school; (b) 79 percent for students who had completed their senior secondary school; and (c) 6 percent for college graduates. Table 5 shows the percentage breakdown of these scholarships for different subject areas.
Table 5 Scholarships Provided by DOE and TCV (1990-93)
All scholarships offered through DOE are granted after the consideration, verification and collective decisions of two different committees. First, the DOE Scholarship Committee, chaired by the Education Secretary and comprised of seven other responsible staff members of DOE, handles scholarship awards for studies within India. Second, the High Level Scholarship Committee (HSLC), chaired by the Senior Kalon (representative of the Cabinet) and comprised of the Education Minister, the Education Secretary and five other Department secretaries, deals with scholarship awards for studies abroad. The previous community service and excellent academic background of an applicant are frequently the standards for consideration of both the Committees. Recipients of DOE, TCV, or THF scholarships have the obligation to serve within the Tibetan community for a specific period of time after the completion of their studies. About 80 percent of scholarship recipients have complied with this requirement.
SOURCES AND USES OF FUNDS The main sources of funds for educational expenditures are: the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA); the Government of India: parents; individual donors; and non-governmental organizations (NGO's). The Government of India supports the education of Tibetan children by subsidizing the CTSA schools' expenditures. This is a substantial contribution considering that the CTSA schools enroll about 40 percent of the entire student population in the Tibetan school network. The DOE and Autonomous schools rely on contributions from foreign individuals and NGO's more then on the Government of India. Increasing number of Tibetan parents are encouraged to contribute whatever they can towards the education of their children. Figure 4 shows a typical pattern of utilization of funds available with DOE.
Figure 4 Uses of Educational Funds
Based on the second IDP survey (1994), the total annual expenditure on education was just under half of the financial resources of all the central institutions of the Tibetan Refugee Community. This reflects the priority that the Community is giving to the investment in its human resource development.
ACHIEVEMENTS Over the last 35 years, our major achievements have been:
All these achievements surpass the Chinese rhetoric about their efforts to educate and train Tibetans in Tibet under their so-called program of 'liberalization and modernization of Tibet'.
PROGRAMS Our mission is not yet completed. Some of our pressing problems are: Exodus of new Tibetan refugees
Failure to provide education to all
High dropout rate
Shortage of teachers
Decline in the quality of education
PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS To address the problems mentioned above, the DOE has planned five major programs for implementation.
School Expansion Program
Teacher and Academic Development Program
Scientific, Professional and Vocational Education Program
Tibetan Publication Program
Health Care Program
A VOTE OF THANKS We remain indebted to the Government of India, community members, foreign individual donors and aid-organizations for their support that had made our achievements possible.
AN APPEAL FOR HELP We earnestly request for your assistance. Please use the Appeal Response Form to indicate your choice(s) of contribution to fulfilling our goal. Table 7 shows the projects for immediate implementation. Table 8 shows the projects for future implementation.
Table 7 Current Projects
Table 8 Future Projects
DIRECTORY OF TIBETAN SCHOOLS
Table 9 contains data on the 85 Tibetan schools as of 31 March 1994.
Table 9 School Directory
AT A GLANCE
Compiled and edited by Dhondup Samten This material is from by The Office of Tibet, the
official agency of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in London. |