By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, Oct. 23: One of the oldest and most prominent Tibetan schools in the exile community celebrated its 58th founding day anniversary here today with the festivities marked in expression of gratitude to the government and people of India.
The Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) school’s ‘thank you India’ themed celebration is aligned with the Central Tibetan Administration led initiative to mark the year 2018 as a year to thank their host India for six decades of support to the exile Tibetan community.
The Chief guest for the opening day’s celebration, Tai Situ Rinpoche paid rich tribute to India’s thousand years old patronage of Buddhism to Tibet and its help during Tibet’s most bereaved moments in the last decades.
The Tibetan lama urged youngsters to give priority to learn and preserve the Tibetan language which, he said, has the potential to contribute to the peace and prosperity of the world. “A Tibetan who is not learned in his own language is half equipped to serve the Tibetan community,” he said.
Head of the exile Tibetan polity, President Dr. Lobsang Sangay hailed TCV as an organization that has produced thousands of Tibetans who have gone on to serve the community in various capacities including his cabinet member and minister for education, Dr. Pema Yangchen. He said his administration has always prioritized education and will continue to do so for the rest of his tenure in the office.
Dr. Sangay also chimed in to the key theme of the celebrations to Thank India. He reiterated, “No other country has done for the Tibetans what India and its people have done for the Tibetan people and their cause in the last many decades.”
Also present at the opening day proceedings were the top rung of the CTA leadership including ministers and senior officials as well as Speaker of the Tibetan parliament in exile, Khenpo Sonam Tenphel and Tibetan MPs. The 1993 batch of the school were also invited as honorary guests.
The TCV school was founded by the late Tsering Dolma, the sister of the Tibetan leader His His Holiness the Dalai Lama and later helmed by his other sister, Jetsun Pema. The school that had humble beginning with just 51 students in 1960 as a nursery has grown into an organization with multiple branches in India with over 15000 students under its care today.
