India is preparing to launch its first school curriculum this month for Buddhist monasteries, aiming to unify educational programs and cultivate patriotism in the Himalayan religious centers bordering China.
India acquired many ancient monasteries in the 1950s as the birthplace of Buddhism, gained a large number of Tibetans in the 1950s, leading to many new institutions, but now it is trying to isolate religious learning from China’s influence.
“We are trying to instill India’s identity through education by joining Buddhism to ensure that China will never control the monasteries in the Himalayas,” said Maling Gombu, a Buddhist worker at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“Thousands of children living and studying in remote monasteries should be recognized and certified in India’s education,” added Gombu, one of the teams promoting Indian Buddhist traditions and ethnic education in Arunachal Pradesh.
The border countries were claimed by China, but New Delhi rejected that.
About 600 monasteries scattered in Sikkim, Hima Al, Uttarakhand, Chamu and Kashmir and Ladakh regions provide training for four types of Tibetan and Indian Buddhist traditions.
They also teach modern subjects and English, but these courses lack consistency beyond national educational work, an effort aimed at welding the overall identity of Indian languages and religions.
“The non-religious education of monks or nuns is not recognized for education,” said Rajeev Kumar Singh, director of the National Institute of Public Education, the Ministry of Education.
Mr Singh, who has worked on a new course that limits a five-year assessment work, hopes to prepare Indian and Tibetan students for academic life in India.
“They (Tibetans) have the freedom to learn Tibetan history and their traditions, but they should learn from India here and need proper education to ensure work outside the monastery.”
Reviewed government documents Reuters Showing 20 monasteries near the border with China’s 3,000 kilometers (1,860 miles) have agreed to pass the new course, with the rest going to be staged later this year.
It takes more time
Officials said that although authorities negotiated separately with the monastery to study the syllabus, they also needed time to print new textbooks and find teachers to work for the school, mostly sparsely populated areas.
However, some monastic monks, such as Gontse Garden Rabgye Ling of Arunachal Pradesh, said their syllabus focuses on Buddhist philosophy as well as modern education and is carefully planned to meet the needs of children who may become missionaries.
“We don’t think it’s necessary to introduce a government-mandated syllabus in our monastery because it can break the pace since the 1970s,” said Geshe Dondup, a religious teacher at the monastery, which has about 300 students this year.
Thousands of Tibetans seek asylum in India, their spiritual leader and Nobel Peace Winner Dalai Lama fled in 1959 when Chinese troops fled as their motherland attempted an uprising.
Now, about 75,000 Tibetan refugees live in settlements managed by the Dalai Lama-distributed government Tibetan Government (CTA), which directly controls some monasteries, although not monasteries outside the Tibetan tradition.
Reuters The first textbooks prepared for monasteries by Ministry of Education officials and Indian Buddhist scholars were reviewed, which delve into India’s modern and ancient history and the country’s role in the struggle for freedom in Tibet.
The texts also emphasize mathematical, scientific and computer training, in addition to mandatory studies in English, Hindi and native Bhoti languages.
The CTA’s education minister Tharlam Dolma said that the monastery schools were historically managed by monks and nuns based on their funds, and the CTA lacked the right to govern them. An official in the Dalai Lama’s office did not comment.
India will begin providing funding to monasteries, run by different denominations of Buddhism for decades with the help of foreign aid to recruit teachers, pay stipends to monks and pave the way for annual exams.
To unify school curriculum, the court largely banned Islamic schools in India’s most populous state last March, saying they violated constitutional secularism and ordered students to move to traditional schools.
Interior ministry officials said on condition of anonymity that simplifying education in monasteries in remote strategic areas is part of a larger plan to remove religious institutions from China’s influence.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Home Affairs did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Last year, the Asian Giants began relaxing the military impasse on its controversial borders as the 2020 conflict killed twenty-two troops, but India’s goal is to spend more money on slower melting to develop border areas.
publishing – April 8, 2025 01:11 pm ist
