India run Tibetan schools to be transferred

New Delhi: India on Thursday announced transfer of Tibetan schools run by it to Tibet`s government-in-exile.

The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved transfer of schools run by Central Tibetan Schools Administration (CTSA) to the Central Tibetan Administration, Finance Minister P Chidambaram told a press conference here. He said the schools run by the CTSA, an autonomous body under the HRD Ministry, will be transferred to Department of Education, Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), or any registered society run by DoE, CTA over a 3-year period. The Indian teaching and non-teaching staff of CTSA would be given an option to join the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, Central Board of Secondary Education, Demonstration schools of National Council of Educational Research and Training as and when CTSA schools are transferred to DoE, CTA, he said. The matter was also discussed with Lobsang Sangay, Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile and chief executive of the CTA. Chidambaram said the decision has the support of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetans. The government would also provide funds at the rate of Rs 43 crore per annum plus an annual increment of five per cent to CTA. The transfer would benefit 2,220 residential students and 6,455 day scholars through better focus on their educational needs. "There would be a potential saving of Rs. 69.29 crore for the Government of India over a 5-year period," an official release said. CTSA was established as a Society in 1961 with the objective of establishing, managing and running schools for educating the children of Tibetan refugees who migrated to India while preserving Tibetan culture and heritage and promoting Tibetan language. PTI