Gyalwang Karmapa Rinpoche visits Tibetan Children’s Village School at SujaThursday, 23 July 2009, 12:07 p.m.

Gyalwang Karmapa Rinpoche gives talk on the preservation of wildlife at TCV   school in Dharamsala on 27 June 2009

Dharamshala: His Eminence the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, head of Kam-tsang Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism,paid a three-day visit to Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) school at Suja, Bir, situated 75 km southeast of Dharamsala, India, from 17 – 19 July.Gyalwang Karmapa Rinpoche was accorded a warm welcome by the entire schoolchildren and staff of TCV Suja upon his arrival at the school on 17 July.At the request of the school administration, Gyalwang Karmapa gave a White Tara Long life empowerment to a large gathering of schoolchildren from Suja, Gopalpur, Chauntara TCV schools and people from the nearby Tibetan settlements of Bir and Chauntara on the morning of 18 July.Following the initiation, Gyalwang Karmapa gave a brief talk about education and the future of Tibet. Next day, Gyalwang Karmapa visited classrooms during the morning session and observed lessons in some classes. Gyalwang Karmapa also visited all the foster homes and consecrated a new home in the afternoon. During his visit at one of the homes, His Holiness even had a taste of the lunch that was being served to the students. Backgrounder: Tibetan Children’s Village School, Suja

Following the Chinese goovernment’s limited liberalization policy of the 1980s, Tibetans by thousands crossed over to India to seek freedom from suppression and persecution. Among the escapees there was a sizable number of illiterate young adults who needed help in education as well as eventual integration into society. The Cabinet Secretariat (Kashag) of the Central Tibetan Administration in exile founded an adult education school in 1986 at Bir – 75 km from Dharamsala. It was named New Tibetan School, and there were 68 students who lived and studied in rental houses there.Later in 1990, the Kashag entrusted the responsibility of running the school to Tibetan Children’s Village, as it had the required experience and capacity to do so. At the time of TCV’s takeover, there were already 322 young adults with many joining each day. When the school was in its early development, there was neither proper curriculum nor adequate infrastructure. For TCV, it was a moment of great challenge. Everything had to be reorganized and restructured in a systematic manner, keeping in mind the unique needs of adult newcomer students. New policy guidelines were worked out with the aim of standardizing the education and opening other options and opportunities for further education and training. In spite of considerable struggles in the efforts to create a new kind of school within the TCV system, Bir school eventually came out a success.The school has adapted well to the new system of education in accordance with the Central Board of Secondary Education curriculum. Currently, there are;