Focus Tibet

Popular Tibetan school is said to teach in Chinese - or it will be closed

In August, the management of the Gyalten Getza School in the city of Tehor Rongbacha in the Kardze prefecture was informed that in future all classes and all examinations must be conducted in Chinese. Failure to comply will result in the school being closed.

On August 23, the school celebrated its 23rd anniversary. It is named after its founder Gyalten Lobsang Jampa Rinpoche, who is regarded as the incarnation of Gyaltsen Rinpoche and who entered the monastery in Tehor Rongbacha in 1949 at the age of 3. The school is also home to a kindergarten and offers free lessons up to the 6th grade. Further lessons up to the 8th grade are also offered. The subjects taught include Tibetan, English, Chinese, math, Tibetan medicine, and optional subjects such as arts and tailoring. 35 teachers teach there and 642 pupils successfully completed the learning program. In total, free lessons were given to around 1 school children.

The Education Commission of Sichuan Province had given the school several awards. The founder, Gyalten Lobsang Jampa Rinpoche, is highly regarded in the region and is a member of the Chinese National Congress and Vice President of the Buddhist Association of Sichuan.

Despite all the awards, China seems determined to implement the Chinese language in teaching in Tibet and is primarily targeting schools founded on private initiative. On July 8, the Sengdruk Taktse School in the Darlak district in the Golog region of eastern Tibet was closed. This school was also founded by a respected monk, Khandrul Jigme Kunsang Gyaltsen from the Buddhist academy Larung Gar, and taught mainly in the Tibetan tradition. The reason given here was that teaching of this kind, which is aimed primarily at monks and nuns, should take place in monasteries and not in schools.

Tibet Watch, July 19 and August 23, 2021 // dr. Uwe Meya

Photo: Tibet Watch

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