Mrs. Rinchen K. Choegyal (Education Minister)

Mr. Ngodup Tsering (Education Secretary)

Mrs. Nangsa Chodon (Joint Secretary)

Department of Education
Central Tibetan Administration
Gangchen Kyishong
Dharamsala - 176 215
INDIA

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:

• To oversee the educational and welfare needs of Tibetan refugee children in exile;
• To provide primary education for every Tibetan refugee child in order to achieve 100 percent literacy among the Tibetan refugee Community;
• To provide modern scientific and technical education and skills, while preserving and promoting the Tibetan language and culture;
• To inculcate values of personal integrity and universal responsibility; and
• To address the human resource requirements of the Tibetan Community in exile and future Tibet.

   

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

Education Minister Education Secretary Academic Section Sponsorship/Scholarlship Section Publication Section Publication Section Project Section

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

School Category	India	Nepal	Bhutan
CTSA	31	0	0
DOE	16	13	4
AUTONOMOUS
1. TCV	15	0	0
2. THF	4	0	0
3. OTHERS	4	0	0
Total	68	13	4

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

Age		Class
	Doctorate Postdoctoral and Professional	8
	Study and Research (3+)	7
Over 23		6

Age	Master's	Professtional	Class
22	Programme (2)	Degree Programme (4,5)	5
21		Vocational	4
20	Bachelor's	or training (1,2)	2
19	Programme (3)		2
18			1

Age			Class
17	Senior Secondary	Vocational or	12
16	School (2)	training	11
15	Secondardy	(2,3,4)	10
14	School (2)		9

Age		Class
13	Middle School (3)	8
12		7
11		6
10	Primary School (5)	5
9		4
8		3
7		2
6		1
5	Pre School (2,3)	KG
4		KG
3		Creche

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 Category	Level	of	School
	Primary (1-5)	Middle (6-8)	Secondary (9-10)	Senior Sec (11-12)
CTSA	8	10	5	8
DOE	21	10	2	0
Autonomous
1 TCV	9	2	2	2
2 THF	1	0	0	1
3 Others	1	2	1	0
Total	40	24	10	11

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

School Category	India	Nepal	Bhutan
CTSA	12,662	0	0
DOE	2,074	2,074	176
AUTONOMOUS
1. TCV	7,911	0	0
2. THF	1,498	0	0
3. OTHERS	1,498	0	0
Total	24,821	24,821	176

Table 4 shows the distribution of students among different school levels.

Table 4

Distribution of Students in Different School Levels

School Level	Number of Students
Preschool (KG)	4,442
Primary (1-5)	12,738
Middle (6-8)	6,458
Senior Secondary (9-10)	2,547
Senior Secondary (11-12)	1,400
Total	27,585

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

Tibetan Schools 70%

Others 20%

Non-Tibetan schools 10%

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)

Subject Area	Male	Female	Total
Arts and social sciences	26%	12%	38%
Education	3%	7%	10%
Legal and business	11%	4%	15%
Science and technology	14%	6%	20%
Vocational studies	10%	7%	17%
Total	64%	36%	100%

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

School Education	52%
Preschool Education	2%
Post School Education	16%
Project	18%
Administrative	7%
Training	5%

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:

• DOE and some Tibetan institutions (e.g., Tibetan Children's Village and Tibetan Homes Foundation) have been able to establish their own schools, which now enroll about 60 percent of the student population within the Tibetan school network.
• During the ten-year period (1984-1994), there was an increase of 42 percent in the enrollment of students in Tibetan schools in India, Nepal and Bhutan. Currently, about 70 percent of school-age (6-17) Tibetan children receive formal education within the Tibetan school network.
• The literacy rate of the Tibetan Community in exile has increased form 30 percent in 1986 to about 40 percent in 1994. The rate is expected to go much higher with the rise in school enrollment during the coming years.
• About 90 percent of the officials in the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) have received their education in the Tibetan school systems.
• Up to 1994, over 3,000 students in exile had completed their university education. Many among them were professionals (e.g., doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers, journalists, computer programmers, etc.)
• Up to 1994, over 4,200 students had completed secondary school education. About 600 students finish school each year. Please see Figure 5. When they leave school, these students will not only have acquire the best of modern secular education, but will also have maintained their native language and culture.

   

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

Between 1989 and 1993, about 12,500 Tibetans have sought refuge in India. Over 60 percent (7,500) of them were under 25 years old. About 5,000 of the under 25's have been admitted to schools; the remaining 2,500 need urgent attention.

Failure to provide education to all

There are over 6,000 school-age (6-17) Tibetan children in exile who do not receive any formal education. About 3,000 Tibetan children attend non-Tibetan schools due to lack of vacancies in the existing Tibetan schools.

High dropout rate

It is estimated that the average annual rate of students dropping out of schools is quite low at 9 percent. However, the drop-out rate varies across the different stages of school education. The middle level (class 6-8) has the highest drop-out rate (43%) followed by the secondary lever (32%), the senior secondary level (21%), and the primary level (4%).

Shortage of teachers

There is a perennial shortage of teachers for some specific school subjects such as, Tibetan language, Tibetan dance and music, science, and mathematics. Lack of scholarships for further studies in these subjects, and the generally low pay for teaching careers are believed to be the major causes of the problem.

Decline in the quality of education

Conclusion of various studies and reports on Tibetan education in exile generally agree that there has been a decline in quality of education since the mid-1970's. We understand the significance of factors such as: (a) in-service teacher training, (b) innovative teaching techniques and aids, (c) library facilities, (d) science kits, (e) reading materials in Tibetan language. Yet, we fail to adequately meet these requirements, primarily due to shortage of funds.

PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

To address the problems mentioned above, the DOE has planned five major programs for implementation.

School Expansion Program

Construction, renovation and upgrading of schools are the major activities of this program.

Teacher and Academic Development Program

This program includes in-service teacher training, raises in the salaries of teachers, implementation of the plan to use Tibetan as the language of instruction, and training teachers for Tibetan language, dance and music.

Scientific, Professional and Vocational Education Program

The major activities of this program are the establishment of a special cell within DOE to improve science education in schools and to offer scholarships for academic degrees and vocational studies.

Tibetan Publication Program

This program includes the writing, designing and publication of Tibetan language textbooks, magazines in Tibetan, and the preparation of English-Tibetan dictionaries.

Health Care Program

The major activities of this program are the supplementing of diet, the improvement of general medical facilities and the prevention of Tuberculosis (TB) in schools.

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

No	PROGRAMME AND PROJECTS	REQUESTED US $
	SCHOOL EXPANSION
1	Expansion of Namgyal Boarding School	380,000
2	Purchase of land for new school complex in Gangtok, Sikkim	130,000
3	Phase I: Construction of school complex, CST Manali	54,000
4	Phase II: Constuction of staff quarter, CST Manali	69,000
5	Upgradation of Namgyal High School	31,000
	SCIENTIFIC, PROFESSIONAL AND VAOCATIONAL EDUCATION
6	Scholarship for academic studies	500
7	Scholarship for vocational studies	300
8	Tibetan langauge teacher training	20,000
	TEACHER AND ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT
9	Books for school libraries	6,000
10	In-service teacher training	13,000
11	Primary education in Tibetan language	33,000
12	Staff salary increment	54,000
13	Tibetan dance anc music teacher training	21,000
14	Tibetan literature program	30,000
	TIBETAN PUBLICATION
15	Advanced English-Tibetan dictionary	50,000
16	Gangjong childrenís magazine	8,000
17	Illustrated English-Tbetan dictionary	33,000

Table 8

Future Projects

S.NO	PROGRAMME AND PROJECTS	REQUESTED US $
	HEALTH CARE
1	Mid-day meal	10,000
2	School TB project	39,000
3	School Medicare project	12,000
4	School dispensary project	8,000
	SCHOOL EXPANSION
5	New school somplex in Gangtok, Sikkim	407,000
6	Hostel construction at CST Mussoorie	112,000
	SCIENTIFIC, PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
7	Science cell at DOE	75,000
	TIBETAN PUBLICATION
8	Folk tales for children	2,000
9	Childrenís story books	6,000
10	Gesar for children	2,000

DIRECTORY OF TIBETAN SCHOOLS

Table 9 contains data on the 85 Tibetan schools as of 31 March 1994.

Table 9

School Directory

No	School Name & Mailing Address	Country	School Category	Highest Class	Total Students
1	Srinagar Day School, Tibeatn Colony, Badamwari, Srinigar, JK 190003	India	AUTON, OTH	5	182
2	Sundarnagar Day School, Bojpur, Sundamagar, Distt. Mandi, HP 75002	India	AUTON, OTH	6	115

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

AT A GLANCE

Total schools	85
Total students	27,585
School location	India, Nepal and Bhutan
Language of instruction	Tibetan/ English
Pattern of education	10 + 2 (ten years of general education and two years of diversified curriculum)
School categories	3 (CTSA, DOE, AUTONOMOUS)
Average male/female student ratio	100 : 90
Average teacher/student ratio	1 : 20
Average annual graduates	600
Average annual school drop-out rate	9%

Compiled and edited

by Dhondup Samten

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Last updated: 30-Sept-96