Out of the 1140 students from 14 Tibetan schools who appeared in the All India Senior School Certificate Examination (Class XII) conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in March this year, 1023 passed the examination, a pass percentage of 89.73 % against CBSE national pass percentage of 80.91%. This year boys outshine girls in the Tibetan schools. The pass percent among boys was 92.44% and 87.5% for girls.  CST Paonta Sahib is the only school to achieve 100% result. 

Yogesh Sharma of CST Herbertpur topped in Science stream with a score of 94.2%, Thupten Rinzin of TCV Bylakuppe has topped in Commerce stream with 86.8%, and Sonam Dolkar of TCV Gopalpur in the Humanities stream with 86%. The 101 students who failed in one subject will be required to reappear in the exams slated for July /August.

Class XII Result 2008 at Glance

In the All India Secondary School Examination (Class X), 85.7% passed as compared to 85.29% last year, a slight improvement of 0.41%. Of the 1538 students who appeared, 1318 passed and 214 placed under compartment and 6 students failed. Five of the 26 Tibetan schools secured 100% results viz. CST Gurupura, CST Chandragiri, CST Kollegal, CST Dholanji & TCV Selakui.

Monika Chauhan of CST Herbertpur topped the list with 93.6. Tashi Wangmo of THF Mussoorie has topped among the Tibetan students with 88.4%.

Class X Result 2008 at Glance

The annual incentive awards ceremony for meritorious staff under the Central Tibetan Schools Administration (CTSA) was held on May 28 during the 20th Institutional Heads and Rectors meeting held on May 28-30 at CTSA Headquarters in Delhi. S.C. Khuntia, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (Govt. of India)/Chairman, CTSA presented the Incentive Awards for meritorious service in 2007 to Wangchuk, post graduate teacher at CST Darjeeling; V. Madhusoodanan, headmaster of primary section at CST Mundgod; P.N. Pandey, wood craft instructor at CST Mussoorie; and Lobsang Dolma, primary teacher at CST-CVP Bylakuppe all under teaching category. Award recipients among  non-teaching staff were R.K. Pathak, assistant at CST Mussoorie and J.M. Naik, sweeper and watchman at CST Mundgod.

The award recipients received a plaque, a certificate, a woolen shawl and Rs.5000 cash.  Also present at the ceremony were Kalon Tempa Tsering, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, New Delhi, Vineet Joshi, Director of CTSA, Tashi N. Rikha, Additional Secretary, DOE, Dharamsala and Education Officers of CTSA, DOE and Bureau.

(From left in the front row) Tashi N Rikha, additional secretary, Department of Education; Kalon Tempa Tsering, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, New Delhi; S C Khuntia, CTSA chairman and joint secretary of the Ministry of Human Resource Development; Vineet Joshi, Director, CTSA; Education Officers C. Dharuman & A.S. Rawat with the 2007 Incentive Award winners (Standing in the back row)

The Department of Education organised a four-day exchange programme for principals of Tibetan schools in two phases viz. first phase from April 8-11 and the second phase from April 22-25. The programme was aimed to facilitate sharing of experiences among different school organisations on teaching-learning processes, problems solving and share experiences in institutional management and development. Twenty-six principals viz. 14 from schools of Central Tibetan Schools Administration (CTSA), 7 from Tibetan Children's Village (TCV), 3 from Sambhota Tibetan Schools Society (STSS) and 2 from Tibetan Homes Foundation (THF) participated in the exchange programme.
The visiting principals observed classroom teaching and visited various school departments and infrastructure facilities and offered suggestions on further improvement. They also had interacted with students and teachers separately sharing experiences on activities at the visiting Principal's school, which could be beneficial for the host school. 
In the year 2006, DOE organised one-week teacher exchange programme for Tibetan schools located in northern India. It was widely appreciated and provided a memorable experience to the participating teachers besides benefiting the students and schools. The next exchange programme will be for teachers of schools in southern India..

Central Tibetan Schools Administration has transferred Mr. Norbu Tsering, Rector of CST Mundgod to CST Mussoorie; Mr. Chosang Phunrab, Rector of CST Dalhousie to CST Mundgod and Mr. Lobsang Tsethar, Rector of CST Kalimpong to CST Dalhousie.

A two-day meeting of Rectors from residential schools under CTSA viz. CST Dalhousie, CST Shimla, CST Mussoorie, CST Darjeeling & CST Kalimpong were held at Dharamsala from June 2-3. In addition to the rectors, the sponsorship coordinators at the schools also took part in the meeting. The meeting discussed on streamlining of accounts, hostel admissions, fee collection, dissemination of information on scholarships to students and cultural & spiritual education. Kalon Thupten Lungrig chaired the meeting, which was attended by the Education Secretary and other department officials.

Rectors of residential schools at DOE meeting in Dharamsala

The Guidance & Counseling Cells of the Department of Education organized an Orientation Program for graduating students of schools under Central Tibetan School Administration, Sambhota Tibetan Schools Society, Tibetan Children's Village, Tibetan Homes Foundation & private schools.

Counselor, Ms. Donkar Wangmo conducted the orientation at Dickyiling Tibetan Settlement on 14th April and at Dharamsala  on 23rd April. While Counselors, Mr. Jamyang Wangyal & Ms. Chokey Lhamo held the orientation on 26th April 2008 & 29th April at Bylakuppe & Darjeeling respectively. The three Counselors guided the students on admission to colleges & professional institutes. They also provided information on DOE Scholarships in India & Abroad as well as on scholarships available outside Department of Education. A large number of parents have also attended the Orientation along with their children. This kind of program was organized for the first time and was received well by the students & their parents.

Fresh school graduates attending orientation at Dharamsala on admission procedures for colleges & professional institutes

Department of Education has made an announcement inviting applicants for Cultural & Spiritual Teachers (Choegye) Training to be held from September to November 2008 at the College of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarah.  Twenty-five candidates will be selected among the applicants fulfilling required qualifications. Application details may be checked from www.sherig.org and Bod-Kyi-Dus-Bab dated May 31, 2008.

Front view of CST Sonada

Rear view of the school

Central School for Tibetan Sonada is situated in the Shivalik range of the Himalayas at an altitude of 6500 feet above sea level in the state of West Bengal. The day school was established in 1975 and is located 65 km away from Siliguri in the South and 20 Km away from Darjeeling, the world famous tourist center, in the North.

The school is running classes from 1 to X standard. It is affiliated with Central Board for Secondary Education, Delhi. The total students' strength during the current academic session is 226 and 22 staff members comprising of 17 teaching and 5 non-teaching staff. The academic results for 2007-08 session was 100% from classes I to VIII and in Common Annual Examination for Class IX was 95.45%. This year's Class X board result was 88.89% with highest score by Badhe Rucha Mandar (91.8%). The school has well developed computer lab, science lab, math and geography lab, M.L.L, music room with modern equipments, library, games and sports room, arts and craft room, resource center and one toilet block etc. The school staff takes active measures to develop creativity among the students, organizing seminars for developing/updating competency of the subject teachers. 

Majority of the students reside in a hostel run by the Tibetan Settlement Office having modern amenities and caters to the needs of Tibetan children coming from neighboring states and remote border areas. The children in the hostel are provided a nutritious diet and under overall control by the settlement officer.

The school takes pride in having teachers like Mr. N.K Singh, PRT (English) has been awarded the prestigious National Award for Teachers for 2005 by the President of India and this year, Mrs. Yolu Dolma, PRT (General) has been nominated for the national award for 2007. In a state level painting competition on energy conservation conducted by the Ministry of Power, Govt. of India on 14th November 2007, Ms. Tenzin Chokyi of Class V got consolation prize worth Rs.2000 plus certificate. In the CBSE Athletics meets cluster I & II conducted at Bakaro Steel DAV senior secondary school, the participants had bagged 1 Bronze and 4 Silver medals on 2-4 November 2007.

The current school principal Shri. Raj Kumar Srivastava has held the post since 2nd August 2004.

1. TAWS Project completed:
a) Boundary Wall Project:
The school boundary wall at STS Bhuntar has been completed with financial assistance provided by the Tibetan Administration Welfare Society (TAWS) under the Department of Finance, CTA. The school has greatly benefited in maintaining harmonious school environment.
 b) Mattress Project:
Many of the mattresses of hostel at CST Shimla were worn out and urgently need replacement. Two-hundred two mattresses with cover has been purchased with financial help from the TAWS. The school children are happy with new mattresses and felt quite comfortable.
c) Classroom Project:
With the sanction approval from TAWS, the CST Bir was able to build two classrooms and one big hall, which is now completed. The school administration and the children have been greatly benefited.

2. Tibet Charity (India) Project Completed:
 Computers for Tibetan Transit School:
The need for computers was greatly felt in Tibetan Transit School. Four new computers for computer class and one used computer for office were installed. We would like to thank Tibet Charity, India for their kind support.

3.SOIR-IM holds Joint Meeting with CTA Departments:
SOIR-IM organized a joint meeting of three Departments viz. Department of Education, Department of Home and Department of Health from May 19-22 in Dharamsala. The objective of holding the joint meeting between the head departments, field officials and SOIR-IM is to bring the information gap among the different stakeholders, to improve the follow up action and monitoring system on the Program and to discuss on how to implement the remaining projects in most effective and qualitative manner. 

1. With the approval from the High Level Scholarship Committee (HLSC) of Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the Department of Education made the final selection of the Tibetan Scholarship Program-2009 at Bureau Office of H.H. the Dalai Lama, New Delhi from April 15-24. DOE received a total of 49 applications for Degree & Non-Degree categories. All were found qualified for the final interview except 4 who were absent. The lists of selected students for TSP 2009 are as below:

Two-Year Degree Program                                                                    One-Year Non-Degree Program
1) Trinlay Choezom                                                                                   1) Thutop Namgyal
2) Tenzin Gocha                                                                                        2) Tenzin Tseten
3) Kunsang Dolma                                                                                   3) Ngawang Yonten
4) Tsewang Gyatso                                                                                  4) Lobsang Chojor
5) Yangchen Dolma                                                                                 5) Tsering Tashi
6) Tenzin Tsepak                                                                                       6) Dhundul Thokmey           
7) Tsering Dhondup                                                                                  7) Dhondup
8) Tenzin Yangkey                                                                                      8) Dawa Tsering
                                                                                                                       9) Tashi Phuntsok

During the final selection, the HLSC representative Ven. Karma Gelek Yuthok, Education Secretary observed the interview proceedings. Orientation was given to the selected and alternate candidates at the Bureau Office, New Delhi on April 24. They will join the US Universities in the month of August 2009.

2. The University of Wyoming has selected two candidates viz. Mr. Passang Norbu (Environment & Natural Resources) and Ms. Tsering Youdon (Botany) for the Master's Program at University of Wyoming (UW), Laramie, Wyoming. And they will leave for US in August 2008.

3. The US Department of State has increased the Tibetan Scholarship Program's (TSP) budget. The Tibet Fund, New York has invited 4 additional students from Non-Degree category. As per decision of the 88th HLSC meeting held on June 14, 2008, the committee has decided to send 4 Non-Degree students wait listed last year.