Tibetan Children Village SOS vesnička – Tibetské děti

Tibetan Children`s Villages (TCV)

The Tibetan Children Village Network (TCV) is a non-governmental charitable organization that provides a home and education in a network of SOS villages across India for more than 15,000 Tibetan children. From its humble beginnings 54 years ago, TCV has become a thriving educational community for Tibetan children in exile. In the 1960s, it established branches in India, stretching from Ladakh in the north of India to Bylakuppe in the south.

TCV’s mission is to ensure that all Tibetan children in its care receive proper modern and traditional education in a family environment. It advocates very well for a strong cultural identity of children, leads them to independence and teaches them to benefit the wider community.

TCV is among the best schools in the entire network of exile villages. They are located in remote border areas or also in the south of India. We focus on three branches. In recent years, it has been ranked among the best schools in Himachal Pradesh 3 times in a row. Thanks to the high-quality preparation, many students continue their studies at universities. The curriculum is the same in all TCV branches. They focus on 5 main subjects, the emphasis is on languages. Before classes start and in the afternoon from 5 p.m., there are prayers that were specially selected and composed by the Dalai Lama for TCV. The form of debate was included in the teaching and is incorporated into all teaching subjects – it develops critical thinking and logic. 60% of TCV employees are former TCV students.

Our support is focused on three branches of this network of SOS villages near Dharamsala. These are “Upper TCV”, “TCV Suja” and “TCV Gopalpur”.

TCV Upper Dharamsala

There is a small children’s village with its own school and homes. It originated from the “Nursery for Tibetan Refugee Children”, where only basic care was provided to the children. When the children reached the age of eight, they were sent to other residential schools established by the Government of India. Eventually this system could not continue as all the residential schools filled up. Thanks to the foresight and courage of Mrs. Jetsun Pema, the headmistress at the time, it was decided that the nursery had to expand despite many obvious obstacles. Thanks to the help of private donors and international organizations, it was transformed into its present form.

Upper TCV houses the secretariat, with which coordination and administrative cooperation takes place. Here we send letters and receive new stories from here. Most of the children study here.

TCV Suja Dharamsala

It was created at a time when the Upper Tibetan Children’s Village was going through its worst period of overcrowding. Due to the liberalization policies adopted by the Chinese, there was a mass exodus of people from Tibet in the 1980s. A large part of them were children who needed immediate care and rehabilitation. TCV took responsibility for the care of these children. The school was opened in 1984. Initially, only 100 new children from Tibet were placed there, later the situation changed and other TCV branches could accept more children. “Lower TCV” turned into a residential school to meet the urgent need for educational facilities for children of parents who can afford school fees. Today, Dolní TCV has 632 children under its care. Over the years, the school became one of the best residential schools in exile, funded only by Tibetan parents.

TCV Gopalpur

The school at Gopalpur is situated in a beautiful landscape surrounded on one side by a tea plantation. It is located in a very quiet and pleasant location away from civilization. Children from the Indian borderlands, born already in Indian exile from the regions of Ladakh, Nepal, Spiti and especially Sikhim, are often accepted here. Children from Tibet no longer come due to increased border controls.

TCV Sumdho

The school in Sumdh in Ladakh is intended for children from nomadic families. The school has 50 children and is located in the so-called “restricted area”, which is an area with limited access near the border with Tibet. The village of Sumdho provides facilities for the elderly and children, especially in the winter. We do not have children from this school in the Adoption ProTibet project. We support them in the framework of “Winter tuition” – a winter learning program for nomadic children, which includes children from the villages of Sumdho, Puga and Nyoma.