DHARAMSHALA, January 7: More than two hundred Tibetan teachers and academecians met today at the lower Tibetan Children’s Village school for the 6th Tibetan Tibetan General Conference on Education, which is being dubbed as the largest ever gathering on education in the Tibetan Diaspora.
Presiding over as the chief guest was Tibetan Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay, who also holds the portfolio of education in the cabinet headed by him.
The three day conference is organized by the Department of Education of the Tibetan government in exile and funded by USAID.
Addressing the conference, the Tibetan PM Sangay said that education standard of Tibetans in exile has improved in the past. “The literacy rate of Tibetans in exile is 84 per cent and comparing with Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal, our condition is better and it is all because of the hard works of teachers and principals.”
He further added that our political condition may depend on other countries but that we are solely responsible for our performance in education. “India has provided us immense help in terms of educational facilities. If we still fail to perform well in education we should owe our drawbacks. We can’t blame it on Chinese pressure or lack of foreign aid.”
Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament Penpa Tsering, Justice Commissioners of the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission and cabinet ministers, among others attended a modest inaugural function this morning in the lower TCV auditorium.
The conference will witness exhaustive discussion on matters relating to education and schools in the exile Tibetan community. The participants are expected to discuss on how to effectively implement the Basic Education Policy for Tibetans in Exile in TIbetan schools.
The first ever Tibetan General Conference on Education was held in 1964, four years after the Tibetan Government was re-established in exile. It was later held in 1972, 1985, 2003 and 2009.
