Brussels: Representative Tashi Phuntsok of Office of Tibet, Belgium visited Jamyang Lophel Sunday School yesterday in Brussels. Representative was accompanied by Secretary Thutop Namgyal.

On reaching the school, the Director & Vice Director and the Education Director of the Chorig Zinkyong which runs the school and the President of Parent-Teacher Association of Brussels received the Representative.

Before visiting the classes, Mr Phuntsok had an hourlong meeting with the teachers. The teachers are the backbone of the Sunday School. Like the Administrative staff, they serve on voluntary basis, he said.

As a former teacher, Representative shared his views on lesson planning, curriculum formulation, class administration, teaching of language. “Grading children would be a serious affair. Therefore, framing comprehensive questions during tests would be a huge responsibility for the teacher. Child psychology should be an essential consideration of teaching,” he added.

Having said these, he underlined the crucial role played by the school, the staff and the teachers in promoting Tibetan language and culture in the diaspora and indeed in Belgian Tibetan community. Acknowledging the paramount contribution of the teachers, he thanked them profusely and wholeheartedly.

The Directors gave a brief but comprehensive overview of the School, its plans, challenges it faced and future objectives. The teachers introduced themselves and the classes they took. At the end, the Directors thanked the Representative for the visit and requested him to visit other schools as well.

Then the Representative visited 3 senior Tibetan language classes. In one class the lesson was on the four basic elements of weather. Representative Phuntsok engaged with the class for sometime. He connected the lesson with the Tibetan prayer flag and its colours. The senior most class, grade 6, was being taught Tibetan dialectics with foundational subject on colour. The Primary and Secondary colours and their contextual connections were the focus. He identified for the benefit of the class that the lesson was aimed at sharpening one’s intellect and the nature of one’s analytical capacity.

The Representative persuaded the senior students to be adept with the language, history and culture of Belgium in order to be a valuable citizen. Obtaining proficiency in any international language should be a gateway to wider global role and perspective, he concluded.

The School runs 6 different schools all over Belgium. On the 15th of this month, it had convened the 5th Children’s Talent show to celebrate the 29th anniversary of Nobel Peace Prize to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
-Filed by Office of Tibet, Brussels