(TibetanReview.net, Jun02’24) — The growing number of Tibetans living overseas outside the Indian subcontinent who are concerned about the sustenance of their ethnic and cultural identity through future generations now have an option to send their children to a boarding school being especially set up for their children at Dharamshala, India. The new school, set up by the Tibetan Children’s Villages (TCV) organization, is to begin operating from Aug 1, 2024.
The school, which will be run at the renovated and hitherto closed Lower TCV campus, will initially accept students for admission to grades four to eight.
China’s Sinicization of education, like in all other areas of Tibetan life, has meant the marginalization of Tibetan language and culture. The aim is seen to be to make the Tibetan children speak Chinese, act and think like Chinese, without any familiarity with their own mother tongue and culture. On the other hand, Tibetans living outside the Indian Subcontinent can only educationally bring up their children under the education system of their host countries and many are seen to be unable to speak their own mother tongue.
For this reason, many Tibetans both inside and outside Tibet urged TCV to set up a boarding school for children from overseas, the Tibetan service of rfa.org Jun 1 cited its Director, Mr Sonam Sichoe, as saying.
He has said the school will prioritise the teaching of Tibetan language skills and cultural traditions while simultaneously imparting modern education in English medium with standards comparable with those in the West.
The school will have Western facilities, including Western toilets, single beds rather than bunker beds, water heating facilities and solar panels.
So far, 15 students from the United States, Canada, Australia, Denmark and Germany have enrolled. But regardless of the numbers, the school will proceed as planned, he has said.
The monthly fee for each child is stated to be US$ 350.
Academic and vacation schedules in the West differ from those in India; so, school officials are in discussions with parents about these concerns, Mr Choeying Dhondup, TCV’s general-secretary, has said.