|
Presented
by Nangsa Choedon
Chapter
Summary
For about
four decades English has been the language of instruction
in major Tibetan School in India. Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche
proposed that these schools use Tibetan as the language of
instruction, instead of English. He assumed that this change
would be a remedy for the decline in the educational standards
in these schools. Rinpoche's paper (1995) has neither been
published in any of the Tibetan publications nor do most Tibetans
in India know about the Tibetanization Program. In spite of
this, TCV, an autonomous school is implementing the Tibetanization
Program.
This thesis
will:
- discuss
the effect of the Tibetanization Program on the educational
achievement of Tibetan students,
- examine
the feasibility of its implementation in Tibetan Schools
and
- discuss
some ideas for improving the educational standards in Tibetan
Schools.
There
are about 130,000 Tibetans outside Tibet who live in 33 different
countries. Approximately 100,000 Tibetans live in India. About
54 percent of them live in about 54 agro-business settlements
throughout India. Tibetans in India do not have same legal
rights as the Indian citizens because they choose to remain
stateless. Most Tibetans in India are engaged in economically
productive work and they support the Tibetan Administration
through their voluntary donations. The Tibetans in India are,
however, still highly dependent on financial help from outside
their community. Next, we look at how Tibetan schools in India
began and how they function now.
The establishment
of separate schools for Tibetans in India was the highest
priority of the Dalai Lama after coming into exile. Presently
there are about 87 Tibetans schools in India, which are of
three types (CTSA schools, DOE schools and Autonomous schools)
depending on their sources of financial support and administrative
body. Over 27,000 students attend these schools. Over 50 percent
of the total school-going children attend CTSA schools in
India.
The government
of India remains the biggest funding source for Tibetan schools
in India although its provision of free education to all Tibetans
ceased since 1975. Tibetan schools in India follow the 10+2
pattern of school education, and they use English as the language
of instruction. Tibetan language and culture are a part of
the school curriculum implemented in Tibetan schools, but
the high school graduation requirements as standardized by
the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Emphasize
knowledge of modern school subjects and proficiency in English
language.
The education
of Tibetans in India has many problems; administrative complication
in schools and lack of financial support. The decline of education
standards in Tibetan schools has been discussed among the
Tibetan educators. However Tibetan schools are currently required
by CBSE regulations to implement what it popularly known in
India as the "Three Language Formula"
India
is a multilingual country. The Constitution of India recognizes
Hindi as one of the 15 official languages of the country.
Hindi, which is spoken by about 40 percent of the total population
of India, is being promoted as the national language of India.
English is spoken by a small number of people in India, but
it still enjoys its status of associate official language.
English is the most preferred of all languages, for legal
procedures and as the language of instruction in schools and
universities.
The Three-Language
Formula, framed in 1956 was later modified. In 1968, government
of India adopted the Formula in its national education policy,
which requires students to study three languages. The three
languages that Tibetan students study are English, Tibetan
and Hindi. English being the language of instruction, it receives
more emphasis for mastery than the Tibetan language.
This
chapter examined the origin of bilingual education in the
United States and implementation of educational programs for
minority language children who are either non-English speaking
or who lack English proficiency. The studies in the United
States that have been reviewed here are inconclusive about
the effect of native language instruction on academic achievement
of the program participants.
All the
studies examined here have addressed almost the same questions:
- Do
participants in bilingual programs learn the English language
better?
- Do
program participants show better academic achievement than
regular English-speaking students, when tested in English?
In Canada,
studies on immersion programs have shown that students who
have been educated through the French (a second language)
in their early grades become bilingual and they achieve better
students who have been educated monolingually.
The context
of language use in Tibetan schools bears a closer resemblance
to that in United States schools than to that in Canadian
schools. The immigrant status of the target students in United
States and Tibetan schools also make them more comparable
than those in Canadian and Tibetan schools.
By co-relating
and comparing the situations and the research conclusions
on the effectiveness of bilingual education in the United
States and Canada, it may be concluded that
- Bilingual
education research findings in the United States have a
greater potential for its implications on Tibetan schools,
but the research conclusions are inconclusive;
- the
bilingual education research in Canada show a consistent
findings but they are not easily applicable to Tibetan schools
in India.
|
