Workshops on Draft Basic Education Policy
 
Two workshops were organised by the Department of Education, CTA to deliberate
on the 2nd draft document of the basic education policy (BEP) for Tibetans
in exile. The first was held on January 16-17 at the Indian Institute
of Public Administration, New Delhi and was attended by 15 eminent Indian
education practitioners, members of the drafting committee and departmental
officials. The second workshop was conducted on February 7-8 at the Songtsen
Library, Dehradun where around 40 Tibetan scholars and educational administrators
from monastic institutes, colleges, research centers and schools, along
with members of drafting committee and departmental officials participated.
Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, Chairman of the Kashag (Tibetan exile cabinet),
chaired the workshops, which were presided over by the Education Minister
Mr. Thupten Lungrig.
A third workshop will be held in the month of June at Dharamsala and
will be attended by eminent contemporary educationists from India and
abroad. Go top
CTSA Secretary Visit CST Miao
Dr. M.S. Verma, Secretary, Central Tibetan Schools Administration (CTSA),
Delhi and Mr. Tashi N. Rikha, Joint Secretary, Department of Education
(DOE), Dharamsala visited Central School for Tibetans (CST), Miao on March
24 & 25. They were warmly received by the Settlement Officer, Tezu,
Secretary of Tibetan Cooperative Society, Miao, school headmaster, faculty
members, students and parents. During the visit, they inspected the main
school and the pre-primary sections and met with teachers and representatives
of the parents. They also met with the Additional Deputy Commissioner
of Changlang district who is also the chairman of the Local Advisory Committee
of the school and discussed matters relating to the school and settlement.
They inspected on-going construction projects of the school and met with
the concerned PWD officials. Secretary CTSA inaugurated the newly completed
block consisting of five classroom and junior science laboratory. They
were unable to visit CST Tezu as planned due to unseasonal rains and floods. Go
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Tibetan Language Workshop for Primary Teachers
 A
two-week long workshop for primary teachers was conducted at the College
of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarah (near Dharamsala) from January 2-15.
Thirty-two teachers from 23 schools run by Snow Lion Foundation (SLF),
Nepal, Tibetan Children's Villages (TCV), Sambhota Tibetan Schools Administration
(STSA), Tibetan Homes Foundation (THF) etc., attended the course. The
Education Minister inaugurated the workshop, which focused primarily on
dialectic instruction in addition to training in teaching of Tibetan language,
identifying minimum levels of learning, techniques of question paper setting,
grammar and child psychology. Few sessions on special education to create
awareness on learning disabilities were also included during the workshop.
Mr. Tsering Dhundup, former Education Secretary (now Home Secretary)gave
the valedictory address. Go
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In-service training for Sherab Gatsel Lobling School
teachers begin
 A
yearlong in-service training for teachers at the Sherab Gatsel Lobling
School (Transit School for young adults) began on January 19. The training
is conducted by the Department of Education, CTA in collaboration with
the Danish Centre for Conflict Resolution (DCCR), Denmark. During the
training Tibetan, Danish and Indian experts in educational instruction,
psychology and adult learning will impart skills to the trainees to effectively
teach adult pupils. The sessions are conducted in the afternoons so that
the regular school routine is not disturbed. In between training periods
the teachers will practice their newly acquired skills in organised praxis
and study groups. In addition to the above sessions, untrained teachers
will undergo few other essential teacher education courses during the
training period.
DOE Counsellor Visit CST Shimla
Counsellor Ms. Donkar Wangmo visited CST Shimla on March 26 and provided
career guidance and counseling to the graduating Class XII students on
the choice of colleges, availability of scholarships and on the procedures
for seeking admission in various colleges and professional institutes
in India. Go top
Music & Dance Teacher Training
Department of Education is conducting a 2-year teacher training course
in Music and Dance at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts for 10
male and 10 female trainees. Announcements have been made in leading Tibetan
newspapers and periodicals. The last date for receiving application is
April 25, 2004. Those interested may also log onto our web site www.sherig.org
for further information. Go
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Tibetan Student Excel
 Ms.
Tenzin Youdon, a Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) student from Stella Maris
College, Chennai, was awarded the Gold Medal and Certificate for obtaining
first rank in the M.S.W. degree Class of 2003. She also received another
Gold Medal for being declared as the Best Outgoing Student of the Department
of Social Work in 2003. She received these awards during the college convocation
held on January 24, 2004.
Ms. Youdon completed her schooling from Children's Garden School, Chennai.
The Department of Education congratulates her for the outstanding achievement. Go
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5th STSA Annual Heads Conference Held
The 5th annual conference of school heads of Sambhota Tibetan Schools Administration was held from January 6-8 at CST Chauntra. The heads discussed special programmes for further improvement in academic standards, co-curricular activities, administration and accounts related matters. Principals and Headmasters from 11 STSA schools attended the conference.
Tibetan Children's Village School, Lower Dharamsala
 Popularly
called Lower TCV, the school is situated on the lap of the majestic Dhauladhar
mountain range in Lower Dharamsala town. It was established in 1984. The
construction work of this new school was started with the initial sum
of rupees 100,000 donated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and subsequently
with assistance from Herman Gmeiner Funds, Deutschland. It was formally
inaugurated by His Holiness on October 10, 1992.
Initially, it started with 100 newly arrived children from Tibet, then
after a month 250 full fee paying children from the Tibetan Diaspora were
admitted. At that time, the school was from kindergarten to class III.
Within a few years, the school was converted into a residential school
primarily for providing education to the children whose parents can afford
to pay the school fees. It is now a secondary school (Class X) affiliated
to the Central Board of Secondary Education, Delhi. The results of the
first batch of Class X in 1990 were 100%. Compared to other Tibetan schools,
it has consistently brought good results in all the Board Examinations
for the last 14 years. In the year 2003, the school was honoured with
a merit certificate from the TCV Head Office for achieving the target
percentage in the All India Secondary School Examination (AISSE). So far,
out of 1009 students who appeared in AISSE, 90.59% passed, 9.12% were
placed in compartment and only 3 students had failed.
At present, the school has 718 students, out of which 587 are boarders,
87 day scholars and 44 staff children. It has 74 staff members including
41 teaching staff. The school has two hostels, separately for senior boys
and girls; 3 dormitories, 7 homes and a spacious dining hall. The school
warden is the in-charge of the homes and each home has a trained mother.
To provide health facilities, the school has a small well-equipped dispensary
with in-patients wards. The school also has well equipped science and
language laboratories, an auditorium, library, music room, sports room,
football and basketball ground, a wet canteen and a tuck shop. It also
has a Chapel.
Mr. Wangdu is the school principal since August 17, 2002. The present
headmaster is Mr. Namdol Tashi. The school strives to provide quality
education with special emphasis on the preservation of Tibetan culture
and in developing good social and moral values among the children. Go
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Scholarship News
- Mrs. Passang Dolma has been selected for the Hungary Scholarship,
Hungary to undergo Master in Environment Science and Policies at the Central
European University, Budapest. She is an ex-teacher of Tibetan Homes Foundation,
Mussoorie.
- Through Mr. Rinchen Dharlo, President of The Tibet Fund, New York,
the Department of Education has received a sum of US$ 10,000 from Flora
Family Foundation, USA towards Specialised Studies Scholarship. The Department
would like to convey its gratitude to Mr. Rinchen Dharlo and Flora Family
Foundation for their kind gesture.
- Following scholarship announcements have been made:
- DOE annual scholarship for 145 and open seats
- Reserve seats 3 MBBS and 7 Engineering seats
- One seat for Atlantic College Scholarship, Wales, UK
- One seat for GAP Volunteers, UK
- One seat at Mahindra United World College, Pune
- Atleast one seat for Pestalozzi Scholarship, UK
- Three seats for Kalmykia Scholarship to study Russian language
/Literature
- Ten seats for Songtsen Scholarship
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Publication News
Rev. Shinkoh Ohyama, Vice-President of the Association for Rengein Tanjouji International Cooperation (ARTIC), Japan, visited Dharamsala and had very fruitful discussion with the Education Minister and Secretary. ARTIC has been supporting a number of children's publications brought out by DOE for the last several years and will do so in future also. We thank them on behalf of Tibetan children.
A colourful comic book "Ashoka" has gone for printing and will soon reach all the schools. Go top
Project News
- The first phase of staff quarter construction at CST Paonta Sahib,
funded by Music Eight Co., Japan has been completed in March 2004. This
will accommodate 24 single and family units for the teaching and non-teaching
staff. In the second phase, Principal's quarter and a guest room will
be constructed, with continued funding. We are grateful to Mr. Hiro Sukeyasu
and Takase for helping with this project. (PHOTO)
- The second phase project at the Sherab Gatsel Lobling (Tibetan Transit
School) of building 20 family quarters for the staff including the school
heads is fully completed and well furnished. We are grateful to the EU
and Tibet House Trust (THT) for the necessary funding. The school will
continue to build the remaining staff quarters as per plans, to complete
the 3-year project of TTS, funded by the EU and THT.
- Dining and kitchen project at Sambhota Tibetan School, Pokhriabong
has been completed with funding from the 'Body and Balance' to help the
most needy children, admitted from various remote places like Walung,
Bhutan and other north eastern Tibetan communities. We are grateful to
Mrs. Ingeborg Schaller, President, Body and Balance and her friends for
her constant efforts to help the poor children in Pokhriabong along with
other programmes.
- Under the planned projects to upgrade the educational standards for
various Tibetan schools, we are highly grateful to the Comic Relief Organisation,
UK for making the commitment to make financial assistance for various
educational development projects for 3 years starting April 2004. The
credit also goes to the Tibet House Trust, London for its continuous efforts
in getting this support.
- The Department of Education had initiated the Vocational Training Centre
Project, Nepal to cater technical services and vocational training for
the growing number of unemployed Tibetan youths. As per the major funding
of the project by the EU through THT London, the construction of various
units of this Centre started in November 2000 had been completed. A part
of funding for this project also came from Brosnan Family Foundation,
USA, which helped this Department to fulfill the need for local contribution.
The credit of fulfilling this project also goes to the Verein Tibet Fruende,
Switzerland for his kind donation towards the purchase of land and the
THT London for donating the NGO contribution required for this project.
The Department of Education is highly grateful to the donors for their
generous financial assistance towards this project.
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