Following the direction from Kashag and in pursuance of the Basic Education Policy for Tibetans in Exile, the Department of Education, CTA has established a Centre for Teacher Education at Bhuntar in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh. Beginning April 2012, necessary infra-structural facilities have been provided to start the First Semest

Students with Director (centre L) and Deputy Director (centre R)

er on 1st September 2012.

Despite best efforts, the resource of qualified teachers for Tibetan schools in India and Nepal still remains insufficient. On the request of

DOE, the Central University of Tibetan Studies, Sarnath agreed to establish an Off Campus branch at Bhuntar to provide innovative courses on 4-year integrated B.Sc. B.Ed./B.A. B.Ed and One Year B.Ed. The curriculum for innovative integrated courses has already been approved by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), Delhi. The integrated course is to prepare competent and committed teachers who would be able to function effectively at school level.

The selection of students and teachers has been completed. Presently there are 22 students for B.Sc. B.Ed. and 31 students for B.A.B.Ed. with a total enrolment of 53 students selected on merit basis out of 171 applicants Besides science/humanities subjects, all other courses including compulsory Tibetan Language & Literature, General English and pedagogy related courses are prescribed. The programme is innovative in character as it attempts to prepare teachers with strong foundation in both content and pedagogy right from the beginning of the semester. Its focus is on professional development with basic grounding in moral ethics and human values.

The Centre is equipped with modern teaching aids like starboard, computers lab with broadband internet, Visualizer, reference books with latest editions, language lab, science labs etc. and well furnished classrooms.