Dharamshala: The Department of Education, Central Tibetan Administration, organised an online workshop – presided over by Education Kalon – for the teachers of Tibetan weekend schools in Switzerland and Liechtenstein on 25 February 2024.

The department’s Education Council held the workshop in response to the direct request from the Director of the Switzerland & Liechtenstein Tibetan Weekend schools, Tsewang Munsel.

In her keynote address, Education Kalon (Minister) Tharlam Dolma Changra said, “As His Holiness the Dalai Lama has always advised, each of us Tibetans has a responsibility to preserve our language and culture. I appreciate and thank you all for your efforts to preserve our language and culture.” Education Kalon further stated that the Department of Education is not content with saying that the Tibetan children residing in the West are not being reached. “We are prepared to support a range of initiatives. We now have the ability to provide online courses thanks to the Internet. Likewise, we have also sent several textbooks, and we will continue to do so”, she added.

Before concluding her talk, Kalon Tharlam Dolma implored participating teachers to read the basic Education Policy for Tibetans in Exile and commit it to memory while urging the parents to always converse in Tibetan with their children.

Jampa Palmo, a teacher at the Upper Tibetan Children’s Village in Dharamshala, introduced the Montessori method of teaching to the pre-primary school teachers during the online workshop. The facilitator of the SEE Learning education, Tenzin Pema, presented a strategy for facilitating communication between teachers and students. Tibetan language Teacher Passang Tsering from the Mewoen Tsuglag Petoen School shed light on improving students’ vocabulary, teaching grammar through stories, and the combined methods of reading and writing to the primary school teachers.

A total of 32 teachers participated in this workshop with funding and support from DANIDA.