DHARAMSHALA, January 3: Around thirty Tibetan school principals, headmasters and senior teachers are currently meeting at the Peace House, Tibetan Children’s Village here for a three day School Heads’ workshop on ‘Teacher Professional Development.’
Organized by Department of Education of the Tibetan Government in Exile, and funded by The Tibet Fund and USAID, the workshop was presided over at a modest ceremony by the Tibetan Prime Minister Dr Lobsang Sangay, who also holds the Education portfolio.
PM Sangay reiterated that education is the priority of the 14th Tibetan cabinet headed by him after winning the election in 2011. “I hope today’s students get things that I didn’t as a student. Even now I see lots of drawbacks in our education- Tibetan, both written and spoken, and Buddhism. And I think that there would not be such drawbacks if we had better facilities, had the teachers taken their classes better, and the schools had better counselors,” said Sangay.
He then told the teachers, headmasters and principals to use whatever they learn from this workshop at their respective schools to improve the overall education system.
Calling Tibetan students important, Sangay said they are “future seeds of Tibet and leaders, it is the responsibility of the Department of Education and Tibetan Government in exile to provide better facilities to the students.”
In line with the 14th Tibetan cabinet’s prioritization of education and academic excellence, the exile government has held a number of training for students and teachers since 2011.
The Department of Education currently oversees 73 Tibetan schools – excluding the pre-primary sections and private schools – in India and Nepal under different autonomous administrative bodies. There are around 24,000 students and 2,200 staff members in these schools.
