Kalon Thupten Lungrig (Minister for Education & Chairperson of TCEWF)

In 1959, as a result of the brutal occupation of Tibet by Peoples Republic of China, more than 80,000 Tibetans fled into exile along with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Deprived of our homes and livelihoods and forced to leave the citadel of our culture and religion compelled us to struggle to survive in an alien world.

For us Tibetans in exile, it was of paramount importance that we maintain our national identity and at the same time prepare ourselves to take on the new challenges posed by new ideas and technology. His Holiness the Dalai Lama emphasized this latter aspect when speaking of the importance of education. He said, " When we look back into our history we find that we have neglected many things. Our goal for now and the future should be to keep abreast with other peoples of the world in all aspects of educational progress and development ". Therefore, after coming to India as refugees, our primary initiative has been the education of our children and rehabilitation of our people.

Although few Tibetan refugee children were already being educated at few Indian public schools in Kalimpong and Darjeeling, the first real step in exile education movement took place on the cold and windy morning of March 3, 1960 a year after coming into exile. On that date His Holiness the Dalai Lama formally opened the first Tibetan school in exile at Mussoorie. With an initial enrollment of 50 students, this modest beginning was to blossom in the years to come with the establishment of many new Tibetan schools in India, Nepal and Bhutan. By the end of the millennium the number of Tibetan schools had grown exponentially to 106 kindergartens, 87 primary level, 44 middle level, 21 secondary level and 13 senior secondary level schools, with total enrollment of over 25,000 students.

More than 37,000 children have completed a moderate level of education over the years, many of whom had gone on to universities, medical and engineering colleges and vocational institutes in India and abroad. On completing their higher education, almost all have come back to serve the community as teachers, doctors, health workers, administrators, social workers, technicians, engineers etc. Few vocational institutes providing courses in traditional and conventional trades were also established benefiting many young Tibetans.

This widespread educational program took a definite shape in 1960 when His Holiness appealed to the Government of India for help to educate Tibetans in India. Under the stewardship of the late Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, an autonomous body called the Tibetan Schools Society, was set up in 1961 by resolution of the Government of India under the Ministry of Education and Youth Services and registered under the Societies Act. The objectives of the Society are to run, manage and assist institutions for the education of Tibetan refugees in India. It became the backbone of the educational program for Tibetan children and the mainstay of efforts in this direction for the last 40 years. Many schools were also set up by community organizations and through assistance received from individuals and international aid agencies.

However, with the growing number of Tibetan refugee inflows in India and Nepal, the current schools have become more congested to accommodate them. Eventually, the need for more schools was felt and, therefore, in 1985 the Tibetan Children's Educational & Welfare Fund (TCEWF) was established and registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has very kindly agreed to be the patron of the TCEWF.

Today many of the Tibetan refugee children attend school receiving a modern education in addition to learning their language, history, and literature and about their culture. The schools have played a crucial role in our community's success in maintaining our identity in exile during the last four and a half decades. The Activities of the TCEWF are vested on the Department of Education, Central Tibetan Administration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.