Dharamshala: The Department of Education (DoE) commenced a five-day workshop on SEE Learning (SEEL) and Cognitively Based

Compassion Training (CBCT) for Tibetan school SEEL program facilitators at the CTA Training Centre located inside the premises of the Tibetan Reception on 29 May 2024

Prof. Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi and Tsondue  Samphel from the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Bases Ethics of Emory University facilitated the workshop, which was attended by 38 participants from autonomous school administrative bodies including Snow Lion Foundation (Nepal), Sambhota Tibetan Schools Society, Tibetan Homes Foundation School (Mussoorie), Tibetan Children’s Villages and two teachers from Ladakh school, one staff from Tonglen school along with one former staff of DoE. 

Education Secretary Jigmey Namgyal attended the inaugural ceremony of the workshop as chief guest, along with Prof. Lobsang Tenzin Negi, Executive Director, and Tsondue Samphel, Assistant Director and program facilitator of SEE Learning, from Emory University, and Geshe Yeshi Gyaltsen, DoE’s mentor on secular ethics. 

Additional Secretary Tenzin Pema from DoE introduced the five-day workshop event, which is scheduled as a three-day workshop on SEE Learning and a two-day workshop on Cognitively Based Compassion Training. The SEE Learning program workshop began on 23 October 2023 and has been running for seven months. Each month, facilitators from Emory University presided over the workshops. 

Following the commencement of the workshop, Professor Lobsang Tenzin Negi delivers a comprehensive overview of SEE Learning and its relevance to our Buddhist community, highlighting its contemporary significance. The professor instructed the attendees on topics such as educating emotional learning to assist the students in understanding emotional learning and improve the emotional well-being in the learning environment.  

Most importantly, in his address, he remarks on the profound and widespread social impact brought about through the SEE Learning program, especially in Western countries and India. He also remarked on the ongoing enactment of the SEE Learning program in about 40 countries. 

Moreover, the address concluded with gratitude to all the participants, emphasising the importance of incorporating their educational service as the optimal approach through the SEE Learning program.

The chief guest, DoE Secretary Jigmey Namgyal, delivered the inaugural address. In it, he discussed how the commitment to promoting fundamental human values could be implemented through Secular Ethics, the subject that His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama has propounded. 

“The Basic Education Policy for Tibetans in Exile, stated by the Department of Education, CTA, clearly emphasises the objectives of education. One section of the policy outlines explicitly the general and specific purposes of education within the Tibetan community in exile. The primary aim is to foster intellectual growth and enhance one’s ability to analyse ethical matters critically. Additionally, the policy aims to cultivate mastery in ethics and develop creative thinking. The broader goal of education, both in a general sense and within the Tibetan community, is to preserve and promote Tibet’s unique cultural, linguistic, and religious heritage while benefiting all sentient beings. The significance of such training has always been regarded highly,” said the Secretary of Department of Education in his remarks. 

There are 61 facilitators for the Secular Ethics program; 22 have obtained the certificate, and 39 are awaiting certification. The DoE, under their supervision, revised the teaching timetable to conduct the integration of the secular ethics program into the school curriculum every once a week. 

Apart from that, for college-going students to increase their awareness of secular ethics, DoE arranged awareness programs such as lectures and exchanging of opinions in various colleges led by Geshe Yeshi Gyaltsen, DoE’s mentor on secular ethics. Moreover, it urged the participants in need to seed the values from the early ages in the school with greater importance and significant impacts it brings along in the long run. SEE Learning programs offer a pathway to fulfil His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s aspirations and substantially impact global education, as stated by the Secretary.

At last, the Department of Education SEE Learning program facilitator, Section Officer Karma Dekyi, gave a word of thanks, and the workshop’s opening ceremony was successfully concluded. 

The workshop was supported and funded by DANIDA.