An Introduction to The Department of Education
Through education, we strive to meet and go beyond the challenges of the modern world while preserving our language, culture and traditions. The youth today will be tomorrow's leaders, building our future and contributing to our development as a nation.

Since the illegal Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959, His Holiness The Dalai Lama and over 130,000 Tibetans have fled in search of political, religious, educational and other basic freedoms. Upon coming into exile, one of the Dalai Lama's highest priorities was and continues to be providing care and education for Tibetan children, many of whom are orphaned or destitute. He believes that Tibetan youth are the main source of hope for a future free Tibet.

It is this understanding which has guided the Department of Education (DOE) since its inception in 1960. One of the seven major departments of the Central Tibetan Administration, (Tibetan Government in exile) Dharamsala, India, the DOE is the apex body responsible for providing support for the educational and welfare needs of over 25000 students in 80 Tibetan schools in India, Nepal and Bhutan. Comprised of both residential and day schools, they range from the pre-primary to the senior secondary level.

By necessity, these schools follow the educational system and required curriculum of the country in which they are located. However, Tibetan schools emphasize the integration of Tibetan language, values and culture into the curriculum and extra-curricular activities.

Of the eighty-seven schools, DOE is directly responsible for thirty-three schools. Thirty-one are overseen jointly with the Central Tibetan Schools Administration, an autonomous body of the Government of India's Ministry of Human Resource Development. At the request of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, this organization was established to "manage and assist schools in India for education of the children of Tibetan refugees." The remaining twenty-three are autonomous schools funded and administered by the Tibetan children's Village (TCV), Tibetan Homes Foundation (THF) and other charitable organizations. Other infrastructures, such as Employment & Placement Bureaus, Teacher Training Centers and research facilities are established according to the needs of exiled communities.

Objectives:

Organizational Functions:
To provide our young people with adequate care, appropriate educational foundation and opportunity for higher study, the DOE continually assesses the educational and human resource requirements of our communities in exile. According to these needs, the DOE performs a wide variety of functions. Such functions include but are not limited to the following:

"Our goal for now and the future school be to keep abreast with other people 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, the future seeds of Tibet who will carry out our national task, be it political or spiritual." His Holiness the Dalai Lama

DOE ACTIVITIES
This guide summarizes the activities of the DOE. Detailed information about these programs is available upon request.

Sponsorship Program
The Department of Education firmly believes that every Tibetan child living in exile should be given the opportunity to receive a school education. Although each family is encouraged to pay required school fees, due to various hardships, many of them are unable to afford their child's education. Our community contributes where it can and the Government of India provides generous assistance through subsidies, but without additional support, some families are unable to secure an education for their children. Therefore, the DOE facilitates finding sponsors for them.

In 1975, the Sponsorship Program was established to enable sympathetic individuals and agencies to assist our school-aged children to attain an education. With this support, the Tibetan education movement has continued to progress with each passing year, for which we are deeply grateful.

Selection
In settlements throughout India, Nepal and Bhutan, the most needy children are selected on the recommendation of the local Tibetan Settlement Office, who is in daily contact with the local community and is responsible for their general welfare. Recommendations, background details and photos of the child are screened for authenticity and are then sent to prospective sponsors.

Provisions
Sponsorship enables poor children to attend a residential school, or a day school while awaiting a vacancy in a residential school. Not only does sponsorship funds pay school fees, it also provides the child with adequate food, clothing, school uniform, necessary books and stationery.

Scholarship Program
Of the youth who graduate from our schools every year, approximately one-third are provided with scholarships for higher education and vocational courses through the DOE, TCV, THF & others. Our aspiration is to help provide all students with the chance to pursue advance study, while helping them to gain the necessary human resource skills required by exiled communities and in Tibet when we return.

Established in 1979, the DOE's Scholarship Program works to facilitate this aim by providing greater educational opportunities for graduating students, through the support and kindness of generous friends and aid organizations. However, many students who wish to pursue further study and training are unable to receive scholarships due to a lack of funds.

Selection:
The main criteria considered in scholarship decisions are a student's history of community service, academic excellence and financial need. Scholarship distribution is based on anticipated and existing employment needs within Tibetan exiled communities. Therefore, scholarship recipients are expected to serve within the Tibetan community for a set period of time following program completion.

Early Childhood Education
During a child's early years of development, we feel it is imperative to provide an appropriate academic foundation that simultaneously cultivates and promotes values, beliefs and lifestyles such as kindness, compassion and altruism. Thanks to the financial support of the Government of India and non-governmental organizations, such as Save the Children Fund, UK, SOS Kinderdorf Austria etc., early childhood education programs have been functioning successfully in the Tibetan community for the last two decades. Children are accepted into these programs, regardless of their family's ability to pay school fees. The continually develop and improve standards curriculum and infrastructures which facilitate positive educational experiences in early childhood, we look to extend our sources of support.

Educational Research, Planning & Development
Tibetan exile education is a continual process of developing new ways and systems to express and promote our social, cultural and national identity while meeting the challenges of the time. While great strides have been made in providing a school education for every Tibetan refugee child, we aspire to expand existing programs and create new ones in areas of need such as, career planning, adult education, vocational training, and job placement. To continually assess school and community needs, the DOE conducts relevant research as the basis of its planning, curriculum and human resource development. The following are DOE projects whose aims are to broaden and enhance the scope, effectiveness and relevancy of Tibetan education.

Tibetan National Education Policy
We envision an educational system that facilitates modern, scientific education, providing graduates with the ability to maintain a successful, self-sufficient livelihood, which contributes to national development and the world.

However, providing knowledge and skills along in not enough. Students much also be supported in their inner, spiritual & moral development. Rooted firmly in their language, culture and traditions, it is essential to guide our young people in simply being good, kindhearted human beings. With this in mind, the DOE, along with collaboration from education specialists, academicians, community planners and administrators, is developing a comprehensive Tibetan National Education Policy.

Dedicated to excellence, this policy provides guidelines for educational research, development and planning, promoting innovative curriculum, teaching strategies and resource materials.

Human Resource Development
Teacher Training
Through the development of skilled, innovative and compassionate teachers, our goal of providing a holistic, quality education can be attained.

Therefore, we prioritize progressive teacher education by organizing in-service trainings, supporting existing training centers and producing teacher resource materials.

Due to periodic shortages of pre-primary school teachers; our vision of upgrading the abilities and skills of existing teachers at all levels, and mandates that all primary education be taught through the medium of Tibetan language, we endeavor to establish more teacher training facilities and support existing ones.

Teachers of Tibetan Culture, History and Language are trained at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, Sarah, H.P. and at the Central Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies in Sarnath, Varanasi, U.P. India. Teachers of Tibetan music and dance are trained at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, Dharamsala, India

Educational Infrastructure:
Buildings & Construction
Throughout the years, the DOE has worked hard to provide the basic infrastructure necessary to house, feed and educate our students and accommodate our teachers. We are indebted to the Government of India and various Aid Organizations for their considerable support towards this endeavor. As the number of Tibetans in exile continues to grow, so does the need for further development of infrastructures. According to one community survey, it is estimated that approximately 3,000 Tibetan students attend non-Tibetan schools due to a scarcity of vacancy in the existing Tibetan schools. Thus, we continually work towards improving and building needed facilities. Some examples of the basic infrastructures that the DOE provides are: Classrooms, Libraries, Multipurpose Halls, Kitchens, Hostels, Transportation, Playgrounds and Staff accommodations.

Looking to the Future
The Tibetan Education movement is, by necessity, a dynamic one. To keep pace with the increasing needs of our community and the growing number of new refugees, our educational system must also grow. This must occur in a manner aligned with the preservation of national, social and cultural identity. Therefore, we strive to empower our young people, both born in exile and those recently exiled with this sense of identity within the context of a global perspective. While recognizing that education is a process of lifelong learning, we must also consider helping our graduates to find meaningful, effective jobs and higher educational opportunities through which they can serve their communities and the world. The continual development of such a progressive and balanced education is extremely crucial at this time in history, as it will be in Tibet when the time may come for us to return.

An Expression of Gratitude
Our heartfelt appreciation must first be extended to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, whose foresight and wise leadership has guided us in our aspiration to educational excellence. The Department of Education is also deeply grateful to the Government of India, community members, foreign contributors and aid organizations for their support. We acknowledge, with sincere gratitude, the essential role that supporting individuals and organizations play in our work. It is through their continuing cooperation and assistance that our achievements have been made possible. Though we could not list all of our supporters here to acknowledge them personally, each of them is an integral part of all that we do every day for the education of our people. Thank you.