SOME OF THE PROBLEMS FACED BY THE COUNCIL FOR TIBETAN EDUCATION

Despite all our effort during the last 25 years in the field of Tibetan education, there are a number of things which have not been able to accomplish to our entire satisfaction. There are still a large number of Tibetan Children who do not have adequate educational facilities. We are neither able to absorb all these children into our residential schools as there are over crowded, nor are we able to provide them with adequate local facilities. We are still faced with a shortage of well qualified teachers, especially in science and mathematics. As a result we have been and are still struggling to provide an adequate schooling for all the Tibetan children in exile and thus we have not been able to give sufficient attention to higher studies and training after secondary and senior secondary schooling.

Over the years the need for counseling and guidance of the students in the schools is also felt acutely. Although we have trained several graduates in this vocation, we have not yet been able to establish such a service in our schools due to lack of the necessary infrastructures and other related facilities. In addition, the need for special academic cell within the council itself is greatly felt, but most of the time and attention of the existing staff taken up by administrative work and therefore very little time and effort has been devoted to this. The council has started to deal realistically with such problems and according to priorities and it hopes to overcome them gradually.

SOME OF THE ENCOURAGING RESULTS
During the past 15 years 963 boys and girls from the 35 Central Tibetan Schools Administration's schools have passed the final schools examinations. At the same time a good number of Tibetan students studying in private school in India also finished schooling. A total of 757 young Tibetans chose to go to a university education during these years.

Medicine and engineering attracted 36 and 22 students respectively. Post graduate studies were completed by 258 students 15 of which went on for further research in their field of study. The study of Tibetan medicine drew67, and about 900 students completed secretarial or some other vocational training. Though quite a few of these went in for such training after the secondary school, majority of them completed the senior secondary before opting for a vocational training. They have in the years since found gainful employment largely in department run by the Tibetan administration in India while a few have joined private organizations here and abroad.

By and large these young Tibetans went into further studies and training were hard working and well disciplined. At the same time, They were actively participating in various extra- cirricular activities. They have left good impression and these colleges and institutions are usually happy to receive other Tibetan students following them.

Perhaps the major achievement of this educational initiative has been in the fields of Tibetan language, art and culture. More than 489 are currently carrying on the traditions of thanka painting, weaving, metal and woodcraft, applique and calligraphy which, besides being unique to Tibetan culture, have gained world wide recognition as work of art.

The metal craft incorporating the Tibetan wax mould process, a skill which has developed and mastered over the centuries, is thriving under the guidance of Tibetan masters.

Though no longer directly under the supervision of the Council for Tibetan Education, this vocation offers substantial employment opportunities, because of high demand for genuine Tibetan metal ware. The craftsmen in this trade specialized not only in the making of jewelers and such other items for laymen but also icons and other objects used for religious ceremonies.

The uniqueness of all these crafts is that they combine aesthetics and expression of high spiritual and religious significance. Precision and love of detail characterize decorative aspect. The figures created by these artist not only represent the aesthetic anatomical dimensions described in Buddhist literature, but given expression to hidden meanings which generate a more sober awareness of life and death and of the possibility of emancipation from our mundane concerns.

Under the given circumstances, the Council for Tibetan Education in its efforts to preserve and continue the almost lost traditions of these great art forms, set up this center for training in Tibetan arts at Dharamsala in 1978. Similar efforts are underway at different centers where under the guidance of masters in various arts forms, young Tibetans are receiving instruction. These efforts are an assurance to the world that Tibetan art, the result of centuries of creative effort, will not perish as it has in the occupied Tibet.

AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS
A number of young Tibetans distinguished themselves in various fields while in school and later as undergraduates and postgraduates. Sonam Dorjee, who graduated from Central School for Tibetans, Mussoorie in 1972, took B.Sc.(Hons) at the Panjab University and did his M.phil. in nuclear physics. He is currently working on his Ph.D. Penpa Dolma won the gold medal in Hindi studies while completing her M.A.at the Himachal University in 1979. She is currently doing her Ph.D. Earlier, two young artists, Tsewang Dorjee and the late Norbu Sangpo won the first and second prizes at the 8th world children's painting exhibition in Tokyo, sponsored by UNESCO.

While some distinguished themselves in the academic and artistic fields, others like Tashi Topgyal and Phuntsok Tsering won the Madya Pradesh State Award for vocations and Topgyal went on to win the first prize at the All India Trade Test, in Calcutta in 1970. Both of them were trained at the E.C.V.I, Pachmarhi. Phuntsok Tsering has since been awarded a Ph.D. degree in Buddhist Studies by university of Delhi. In general, over the years, report from various school show that in the academic field as well as in extra-cirricular activities, young Tibetans possess a keen competitive spirit. Of particular significance is an original research paper submitted by Dawa.N. Lhupchung in which he studied the performance of Tibetan refugee children and compared it to other children of similar age groups. His findings were that Tibetan refugee children were in no way less intelligent than other children, despite the difficulties of a refugee faced by the parents and inevitably the children. His thesis has been accepted by the Department of Foundations of Education, Jamai Millia, New Delhi.

A thesis submitted by Tenzin Phuntsok for his M. Phil. in political science, was accepted by the Panjab University. The thesis was on "Sino-Indian Inter-Action on the Question of Tibet".

Tenzin Chodak studied in various institutions in India, then left for the United States for further study. He received his undergraduate degree in political science from Johnston college, California. At the university of Massachussets at Amherst he pursued graduate studies in education, specializing in curriculum development, political and educational development, and non-formal education.

Tibetan Education, 25 Years in Exile, 1985 Edition