Gaden Phodrang Student Merit Award The toppers in Science, Humanities and Commerce streams from amongst the Tibetan students who appeared in the All India Senior School Certificate Examination held in March this year have been awarded the newly instituted Gaden Phodrang Student Merit Award and prize money of Rs. 5000/-. The awards were presented on December 10 in Dharamsala during the anniversary celebrations commemorating the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1989. Award recipients for year 2002 were Dorjee Tsering (Science) TCV Dharamsala, Yeshi Lhamo (Humanities) CST Shimla and Tsering Ten (Commerce) TCV Bylakuppe. Minister Distributes School Bags On Children’s Day (November 14) Education Minister Mr. Thupten Lungrig presented 360 school bags to local Indian school children, as a mark of gratitude to the people of India for their support extended to the Tibetan exiles. Fourth General Conference of Tibetan Teachers On January 2-4, 2003 Dharamsala will host the Fourth General Conference of Tibetan Teachers organised by the Department of Education, Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) to co-incide with the Gaden Phodrang Anniversary Celebration. The objective of the conference is to get Tibetan educators from all Tibetan schools from India, Nepal and Bhutan on a common platform and to deliberate on current academic situations in the community and identifying ways to bring improvement. Around 450 Tibetan educators are expected to attend the meeting. His Holiness the Dalai Lama will inaugurate the conference. On the third day, a seminar will also be held where eminent educationists will present papers. The conference will be held at Lower Tibetan Children’s Village School.

Tibetan Schools Cultural Meet Held Education Minister was the Guest of Honor during the Central Level Tibetan Cultural Meet held at the Central School for Tibetans, Shimla on October 13-14. The Meet was organised by Central Tibetan Schools Administration (CTSA), Delhi. Children from schools under CTSA, Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV), Tibetan Homes Foundation (THF) and Sambhota Tibetan Schools Administration (STSA) took part in the meet. Competitions for group song, group dance, duet, debate, declamation, poetry recitation and one act play were held. TCV won the overall championship. The Governor of Himachal Pradesh, His Excellency Dr. Suraj Bhan was the Chief Guest on the occasion. Dr. M.S. Verma, Secretary, Central Tibetan Schools Administration (CTSA) was also present during the meet. DOE take charge of Transit School Department of Education has taken the administrative charge of Sherab Gatselling School (Sogar Transit School) with effect from August 1, 2002 as per decision of the Kashag (Tibetan Cabinet). Earlier, the school was administered by the Office of Reception Centre, CTA. Change in School Academic Session It has been decided to change the academic session of schools under Central Tibetan Schools Administration (CTSA) and Sambhota Tibetan Schools Administration (STSA) from 1st July - 30th June to 1st January - 31st December with effect from January 2004. Two-month annual vacations for both summer and winter vacation schools will however remain the same as before. CTSA Secretary and DOE Joint Secretary Visit Schools Dr. M.S. Verma, Secretary CTSA and Mr. Tashi N. Rikha, Joint Secretary DOE paid a joint visit to CST Kalimpong, CST Ravangla, CST Sonada and CST Darjeeling from December 9-14. They interacted with the students, teachers, school heads, parents and the settlement officers.

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Workshops/In-service Training for teachers STSA organised a workshop for Science teachers at CST Chauntra from October 16-19. Mr. Gunner Cederberg and Mr. Erland Anderson from Denmark were the resource persons. Theme of the workshop was ‘How to get hands-on learning from experience’. Fourteen science teachers from CST Paonta Sahib, CST Chauntra, STS Bhuntar, STS Dekyiling, TCV Gopalpur, TCV Suja and from local Indian schools attended the workshop. The financial assistance for conducting the workshop was provided by Mr. Peter and Miss Sine Hallum from Denmark. Five Trained Graduate Teachers (Humanities and Science) from STSA schools attended a workshop organised by CTSA in Delhi on December 16-21 on framing Model Question Papers for Class VI to VIII. Pre-Primary Teachers Training Completed Twenty-four trainees successfully completed the two-year pre-primary teachers training program on August 31, 2002 from the TCV Teacher Training Center, Dharamsala. The Hon’ble Education Minister was the Chief Guest in the closing function and gave away the certificates to the teacher trainees. He stressed on the significance of teachers’ responsibilities and the need to put to optimum use the teaching skills acquired during the course. They were provided with a set of teaching aids for use in the schools. The Department of Education, CTA would like to thank TRAS & CIDA, Canada for providing financial support for conducting this training. Fulbright Program Evaluation Team Visit CTA On January 2-4, 2003 Dharamsala will host the Fourth General Conference of Tibetan Teachers organised by the Department of Education, Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) to co-incide with the Gaden Phodrang Anniversary Celebration. The objective of the conference is to get Tibetan educators from all Tibetan schools from India, Nepal and Bhutan on a common platform and to deliberate on current academic situations in the community and identifying ways to bring improvement. Around 450 Tibetan educators are expected to attend the meeting. His Holiness the Dalai Lama will inaugurate the conference. On the third day, a seminar will also be held where eminent educationists will present papers. The conference will be held at Lower Tibetan Children’s Village School.

Schools Inspection The annual inspection of Central School for Tibetans (CST), Mundgod and its branch school, CST Mundgod at Camp no. 6, were conducted by Mr. Tsering Samdup, Education Officer, DOE and Mr. C. Dharuman, Education Officer, CTSA from September 30-October 5, 2002. Education Officers of DOE conducted inspections of CST Bir, Chauntra, Manali and STS Bhuntar from October 21-26. Ms. Yarphel Ghani, Principal, CST Paonta deputed by the DOE and Mr. P. Singh, Education Officer (Retd.) KVS Dehradun conducted the annual inspections at CST Herbertpur on November 15-16. Mr. Tsering Samdup, Education Officer DOE and Mr. Karma Chungdak, Director STSA, jointly inspected schools at Dekyiling, Kamrao, Puruwala and Paonta Sahib from November 18-28. Mr. Tsering Phuntsok, Education Officer, DOE visited CST Mussoorie for the annual inspection of the school along with the inspection panel appointed by CTSA from November 21-22. On December 9-10, Mr. A.S. Rawat, Education Officer CTSA, Mr. S.P. Rana, Dy. Education Officer CTSA and Ms. Yarphel Ghani, Principal, CST Paonta Sahib deputed by DOE inspected CST Shimla. During the inspections, classroom instructions by all the teachers were observed and school records checked in addition to inspecting the educational facilities and interacting with students and meeting with staff members. Career Out-Reach Program for Schools Mr. Kalsang Tsewang, Counselor, Career Resource Cell, DoE toured CST Mussoorie and CST Herbertpur from September 8- 20 and CSTs at Mundgod, Bylakuppe, CVP Bylakuppe, Gurupura, Kollegal and Chandragiri from October 5 to November 25. During his visit, he held sessions on career planning & decision making, choosing of subjects, creating awareness of job avenues in Tibetan government services particularly focussing on the present and future human resource needs in the Tibetan society. In order to understand students’ ability, talent, personality and motivation, he administered Aptitude Tests to each student followed by individual counseling on career planning and problem solving. At CST Bylakuppe and CST Mundgod, he had invited some Management and Computer experts to give talk on career opportunities and scope in these fields. The experts presented video shows and lectures on real life experiences. The students found the program very useful.

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Nepal Schools Delegation Visit Dharamsala A delegetion of 156 Tibetan teachers from 10 Tibetan schools in Nepal visited Dharamsala from November 12-18. Mr. Wangchuk Tsering, Representative, Office of Tibet, Nepal and Mr. Thinlay Namgyal, Executive Secretary cum Education Officer, Nepal led the delegation. They had an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama on November 15. Mr. Thupten Lungrig, Minister for Education and Religion & Culture spoke to the delegation on behalf of the Kashag. A meeting of the school heads from Nepal and the section heads of DOE was organised to discuss various issues concerning the school administration. The delegation included few Nepalese teachers and foreign volunteers working in the schools. During their stay they visited many Tibetan institutes in the area and also received blessings from Gyalwa Karmapa. Hiro Sukeyasu visit DOE Mr. Hiro Sukeyasu of Music Eight Co. Japan and long time supporter visited Dharamsala and schools at Chauntra, Bir and Paonta Sahib from November 8-14 to evaluate on going projects and meet the children sponsored by his organisation. While in Dharamsala, he had meetings with the Education Minister and Education Secretary. Tibetan Children's Village Choglamsar, Leh, Ladakh The Tibetan Settlement in Ladakh in the 70’s was the most remote and least developed of all the Tibetan communities in exile. Nomadic refugee camps were scattered all along this Indo-Tibet border region where communication and physical contacts were almost entirely cut off from the rest of Tibetans in India. His Holiness was deeply concerned about their future, particularly the fate of the children. In order to alleviate their poor condition, a plan was implemented to provide education and introduce sustainable development programmes in that region. With initial seed money of Rs.10, 000 from His Holiness and land donated by the local Indian government, TCV set out to build a Children’s Village near Leh, Ladakh in 1975. Today TCV Ladakh is a thriving SOS Village with its own school and other facilities. It is a secondary school affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education, Delhi. The school includes classes from pre-school through grade ten, after which students can join other TCV branches for further education and eventually college

education. Out of 24 children’s homes or “Khimtsangs”, 7 are allotted to destitute Ladakhi children. Besides the main Village at Choglamsar, there are now seven schools, three in Jangthang and one handicraft cum vocational training centre, one agro-nomadic farm and one old people’s home. Nicknamed “oasis in the desert,” TCV Ladakh has become the pride of the region, serving both the Tibetan and Ladakhi communities in the best tradition of universal responsibility and care. Presently the strength of the Children’s Village is 2,590 out of which 1250 are day scholars. The Director of the Children’s Village is Mr. Dawa Dhondup Nawa and the Principal of the school is Mr. Lhakpa Tsering. Most of the staff and teachers in the school are former students of the TCV. Essay Writing Competition, 2002 The Annual Tibetan Essay Competition was conducted on August 27 for the students of Classes VI to XII in schools in India and Nepal. The top three entries of each class category will be awarded a merit certificate and cash prize. The competition aims to motivate the children to develop their writing skills in the Tibetan language. The 3rd English essay competition for the students of Class IX & X and for teachers were conducted by DOE on 29th & 30th October, respectively. The prizes of the competition are sponsored by Mr. Hiro Sukeyasu of Japan. Tibetan Language Introductory Course Exam 2002 Tibetan language introductory course examination for the session 2002-03 for non-Tibetan staff (incentive scheme) working in CTSA schools was conducted on December 7. Twelve teachers from various CTSA schools took the exam. The results will be declared in January 2003. Scholarship News The Government of France has offered scholarship for a Tibetan student to undertake two-year master degree programme at Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand for the year 2003-2005. The High Level Scholarship Committee (HLSC) has awarded the scholarship to Ms. Tsering Dolkar, Hardware Specialist, Tibetan Computer Resource Centre, CTA. She will leave for Thailand in August 2003.

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Publication News
Kalon Tripa Publication News(Chairman of Kashag) released the following publications brought out by the Department of Education, CTA on December 10, during the celebration commemorating the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Biolgraphies on Lineage of Dalai Lamas and Panchen Lamas	Dhoyi Sengney Nye-Pai-Jipa(A compiled stories from Phayul)	Truk-Tso Shiwai-Men (Collection of Stories written by School Children)	Chiling Drung Tam (Foreign Story Collection)	Bhod-Kyi Dus-chen (Festivals of Tibet)
Sherig Journal DOE also released the first issue of Sherig Journal on 10 December. The journal is a compilation of articles covering varied topics on education, Tibetan language and culture, value education, teaching methodology, science, mathematics and general knowledge.

FUNDING REQUIRED FOR THE FOLLOWING PROJECTS*
Project Title	Amount (US $)
Pre-Primary School, Sidhpur, Dharamsala	15,889
Multi Purpose hall construction, Tezu	33,190
Pre-Primary School Construction, Tezu	16,008
School Jeep, Gangtok	12,752
Construction of New Boarding School, Manali	1,222,000
CTSA School recurring expenses	1,604,700
Construction of Day Care Centre, Norbu Linka	42,513
School Bus, Norbu Linka	21,193
School Bus, Mcleod Ganj	22,138
Construction of New School Building, Srinagar	81,522
Publication of project of Department of Education	95,138
Scholarship Project	366,667
Hostel in Chandigarh	568,403
Foreign Language Scholarship Programme	20,000
*Aid organisations and individuals are requested to kindly contact the Project Officer, DOE for the details of the projects.