DHARAMSHALA, January 11: The Dharamshala based exile Tibetan administration today welcomed the Indian government’s decision to transfer Tibetan schools currently under the Central Tibetan Schools Administration to the Tibetan Department of Education.
The Department of Education of the Central Tibetan Administration, in a release today, said “this major decision is representative of the trust and the confidence that the Government of India has, in the CTA’s capability to provide quality education to the Tibetan children in exile.”
Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram, while making the announcement yesterday, noted that the move was aimed at achieving a “better focus” on the educational needs of the students.
Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, the elected head of the Tibetan people, who also serves as the Kalon for DoE, expressed his gratitude to his “friend Shri Apurva Chandra, the Chairman of CTSA for wholeheartedly supporting the transfer proposal right from the beginning.”
“I also take this opportunity to thank the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Human Resource Development, people of India and particularly the staff in the CTSA schools who have worked tirelessly for the education of the Tibetan children,” Sikyong Sangay said in the release.
The DoE further pledged to make “every effort to realise the vision of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the late Prime Minister, Pandit Nehru to nurture a generation of Tibetan youth having sound modern as well as traditional education.”
CTSA was established as a Society in 1961 with the objective of establishing, managing and running schools for educating the children of Tibetan refugees who migrated to India while preserving Tibetan culture and heritage and promoting the Tibetan language.
In the midst of growing concerns over the gradual deterioration of the quality of education and academic performance in these schools, the DoE had last year submitted a “detailed takeover proposal” to the relevant Indian authorities.
The Indian central government has pledged to continue funding the schools even after the full transfer of schools, which is slated to take place over a three-year period.
In the release today, DoE Secretary Ngodup Tsering “earnestly requested all the stakeholders in the field of education viz., the school heads, teachers, students, parents and the community to shoulder equal responsibility in raising the standard of education in Tibetan schools.”
According to the DoE, there are currently 7,555 students and around 761 staff members in 63 CST schools all over India.
