Chik (1), nyi (2), sum (3), zhi (4), nga (5), druk (6)…
Ka, kha, ga, nga, ca, cha, ja, nya….
Numbers to alphabets, names of veggies, culmination and animals, blocks, board video games, drawings, shapes, colorings, and even tune, songs, and dance — for the scholars at Sambhota Tibetan School in Bir of Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district, the sector of education and gaining knowledge of begins of their Tibetan language, proper from day one.
Playing the traditional musical device ‘banyan in sync, the grade 2 college students sing and repeat Tibetan tunes with their instructor. It is a Wednesday, and consequently, they’re dressed in the conventional dress ‘Chupa.’ Every corner of the college is packed with colorful getting-to-know aids; one notices that there aren’t any benches in classrooms. The college students sit on a soft cushion placed on the ground, small wooden tables in front of them. Wood tables are arranged in a circular form in a few classrooms to encourage group discussions. In some other rooms, some youngsters are dancing to foot-tapping Tibetan numbers. A portrait of The Dalai Lama hangs inside the background.
Dalai Lama said, “Tibet’s difficulty is no longer a warfare for political independence,” but “there may be a need to focus on the renovation of Tibet’s cultural, spiritual, and linguistic identification.” He also said, “As long as the Tibetan human beings can preserve their cultural, historical past, religion, and identity, it’ll carry them internal peace and happiness.”
Those younger Tibetans, born and taken up in overseas land, are a lesson of their subculture and background stars at the Montessori stage. A seed of desire that someday they will return to their personal use is sown in their hearts. Though it was in 1959, almost 60 years ago, that Dalai Lama moved to India with eighty 000 fans after the Chinese invasion of Tibet, it changed in 2005 when the Basic Education Policy for Tibetans in Exile was formulated. It became applied in 2006 throughout Tibetan schools run with the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) aid, centered at Dharamshala (unofficially called Tibetan Government In-Exile), to help children live connected with their roots. Currently, there are at least 80,000 Tibetans settled in India.
Nearly 13 years after the Tibetan language became the compulsory medium of preparation from Montessori until elegance three (without a different language to gain knowledge of until then), the lecturers say it modified things, and children are extra linked to their language.
‘Students now more connected to the Tibetan language and culture.’ The Tibetan education policy also requires a three-language coverage as the debate continues in India over the National Education Policy (NEP) and three-language scope. Still, the 2nd language (always English for the time being, according to policy) and third language (of the place where the college is positioned and frequently Hindi currently) are added in Elegance four and six. A fourth language (overseas language) can opt from class 9. Earlier, Tibetan faculties followed the Indian pattern, teaching English from kindergarten and Hindi from Magnificence 1.
Chime Dolma, essential, Sambhota Tibetan School, Bir, with over three years of teaching, says that because the coverage was carried out in 2006, college students are more connected with the Tibetan language. “Earlier, they in no way took an interest in Tibetan as English was also taught to them right from kindergarten. Even class 10 college students felt uncomfortable and could not write a utility in Tibetan. We have been teaching them English from pre-primary and Hindi from magnificence 1. It became a growing confusion. Now they’re greater proficient in all three languages,” says Dolma.
Even though Tibetan students take board exams [Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)] in their ‘host’ United States of America, they must consider Tibetan until class 12 as a compulsory subject. The coverage also provides a unique amalgamation of Tibetan and Indian values. It alternatives numerous standards like ahimsa (non-violence), yoga, views of Indian educationists, and so on from Indian subculture.
Other ideas — inclusive of SEE mastering (social, emotional & ethical), the DEAR day on Saturdays (Drop Everything and Read), no benches, sitting close to a teacher for motherly affection, no tuition fee (mother and father handiest pay nominal price for desk bound and lunch) — also are precise practices in Tibetan education device.
“According to the policy, the Montessori system has replaced kindergarten. At Montessori degree-1, we teach kids only the practicals of life. At stage 2, we start with sensory gaining knowledge of Tibetan alphabets and numbers via touch, and at level 3, social science is added alongside Tibetan alphabets and numbers. Until Magnificence 3, everything from poems, tunes, dances, stories, and folktales is in Tibetan. We also have a Tibetan language lab,” adds Dolma.
