Tibetan Schools: Preserving the Socio-Linguistic Ties That Bind

Tibetans today thrive in the modern world, but struggle to remain connected to their cultural roots.

On March 27, 2006, the Dalai Lama addressed a throng of followers in Dharamsala about a topic very near to his heart: the part that education plays in bolstering Tibet's endangered cultural identity. "What is most important is that everyone should act with diligence, without any loss of determination," he said. "When I say that we should make efforts without loss of courage, the essence of it is that we must bring emphasis particularly on education."

Acknowledging that his compatriots have no shortage of courage, he added: "In the area of modern knowledge, Tibetans have lagged extremely behind. Not only was the imperative for it not felt from the very beginning, there has also been no deliberately established system for pursuing it."

Indeed, the 13th Dalai Lama made attempts to raise the general level of knowledge among Tibetans following trips to China and India in the early 20th century, even sending students to England. But these initial attempts eventually tapered off. Since then, Chinese presence has gradually eroded the influence of Tibet's authentic culture and mother tongue amid a fierce push to absorb the Tibetan heartland into the People's Republic of China.

At the Third Tibet Work Forum, officials likened the Tibetan independence movement to a snake and declared their intent to "cut off the serpent's head."

In practice, that 1994 meeting meant increased restrictions on the spread of Buddhism and a campaign to degrade the religious and political standing of the Dalai Lama. It "resulted in a dramatic increase in political repression," Kate Saunders of the International Campaign for Tibet told The Diplomat — "tighter internal security, longer sentences for political offenses, increased control over monasteries and nunneries, intensified political education in schools, and more detentions."