Arrival of students from Tibet dips in Tibetan Children’s Village schools in HP
This year, no new admissions of students coming from Tibet have been reported at Tibetan Children’s Village schools in upper Dharamshala and Gopalpur as compared to the nearly 1,000 Tibetan kids, taking admission in these schools a decade ago.
The Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) Schools, a non-profit organisation that takes care of the education of Tibetan students, are seeing a decline in admissions due to decreased influx of people from Tibet to India. This year, no new admission of students coming from Tibet have been reported at TCV Upper Dharamshala and TCV Gopalpur, a stark contrast to the nearly 1,000 Tibetan students, taking admission in TCV schools, over a decade ago.
Last year, TCV Upper Dharamshala received only four new admissions from Tibet. In 2023, more than four students had arrived; the officials said that the decline is more and more with each passing year.
As only a handful Tibetans trickle now in India, a shift that most Tibetan government-in-exile officials attribute to stricter border control imposed by the Chinese government. The officials of the Tibetan exile government have attributed this decline to the surveillance around the border and mountain passes amped up by the Chinese in 2008 following a major demonstration in Tibet.
Tsultrim Dorjee, director of the Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) Upper Dharamshala, expressed concern over the significant decline in the number of children arriving from Tibet. “In the past, nearly a thousand children would come each year, but since 2008, this number has steadily decreased. This year, there were no children arriving from Tibet, marking a troubling trend of zero student arrivals,” he said.
“Our main aim is to retain our culture, heritage, religion, language, and values. The Chinese government is actively working to erase our culture, heritage and traditions in Tibet,” he said.
Dorjee highlighted the urgent threat to Tibetan identity and culture, particularly due to the policies enforced by China in Tibet. “Institutions like the Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) play a crucial role in preserving Tibetan culture, traditions and values. Here, we strive to maintain our identity in exile and we have been successful in this endeavor,” he added.
There are five TCV schools in Himachal Pradesh-- TCV upper Dharamshala, TCV lower Dharamshala, TCV Gopalpur, TCV Chauntra and TCV Suja. There are nearly 1,000 students in TCV Upper Dharamshala at present, which started in 1960 after the arrival of the 14th Dalai Lama and is known as the mother of all other TCV schools. According to officials, in the past 64 years, over 53,000 children have passed from TCV schools.
Kalsang Phuntsok, former director of TCV Gopalpur said that there are no new children arriving from Tibet. “All TCV schools are currently facing this issue. The number of students has been decreasing each year. TCV Gopalpur has not seen any new admissions from Tibet this year, and there are only 72 children at TCV Lower Dharamshala now. We are preparing to confront these challenges.”
“A few decades ago, almost all the children came from Tibet. However, the student population has been declining since 2008. At one time, TCV Gopalpur accommodated 1,200 children, but now it has just over 600,” he said.
He also pointed out that many young Tibetans in India are seeking to immigrate to Western countries, and the birth rate among Tibetan families is very low, contributing to this decline.”
History of TCVs
On May 17, 1960, 51 ill and malnourished children arrived from road construction camps in Jammu. Tsering Dolma Takla, the elder sister of the 14th Dalai Lama, volunteered to care for them. The Government of India soon rented Conium House to house the children, initially called the “Nursery for Tibetan Refugee Children”.
Initially providing basic care, the nursery sent children to residential schools at age eight. However, as those schools became full, the nursery faced overcrowding. Under the leadership of Jetsun Pema, a reorganisation plan was launched to expand despite challenges.
With support from private donors and international aid, the nursery underwent significant construction, eventually evolving into the Upper TCV School in Dharamshala.