Dharamshala: The Department of Education of the Central Tibetan Administration conducted a six-day meeting in Dharamshala to finalise the draft version of the Tibetan language textbooks for Pre-Primary to Class 4 of Tibetan Language and Culture School from 11-16 December 2023.
During the meeting, Additional Secretary Tenzin Pema, Director of the Office of Education Council raised the issue of Tibetans in the west who constitute about half of the Tibetan diaspora presenting a unique challenge in terms of meeting their education needs. She explained that in order to cultivate a setting that promotes Tibetan language and culture among the Tibetan community in the western regions, the Department of Education at the inaugural conference of the Tibetan Language and Culture School in 2019, proposed and finalised a curriculum based on which textbooks were tailored. She further suggested that the special experience of those who teach in Tibetan as a second language should be supported in the future.
A draft of the syllabus for the teaching of the pre-primary to the fourth standard was prepared, and after seeking suggestions from the Tibetan language and culture schools in the western countries, the Tibetan syllabus was approved by a committee appointed by the Department of Education.