Towards a Mouth-To-Hand Existence.
The third Tibetan teachers’ conference held in Dharamsala early this month was predictably hailed as a success by all participants. However, how many of 21 resolutions passed at the end of the three-day deliberations will or can actually be implemented remains to be seen. Judging from past experiences, we willdo well not to be overenthusiastic about the outcome of the whole existence.
At the very outset of the conference, no less a personage than its Chairaman, who happen to be the Tibetan Education Minister, disclosed sadly that his office contains stacks of files of resolutions, suggestions and plans from the past—largely untranslated into practical terms. There was not much persuasive evidence that the fate of the last resolutions will be all that different.
Clearly the way such conferences are organised is at fault. But this—as I had an earlier occasion to point out—is the way all Tibetan conferences, of governmental or lesser levels, have always been conducted. And Tibetans are notoriously shy of deviating from traditions. At this conference, for example, when someone suggested revising the text books currently being used in our schools, there were protests on the ground that the committee responsible for devising them comprised of the most learned and respected minds in our community.
If the next conference of the Tibetan teachers is to be more practical value, the agenda needs to have more specific items for discussion rather than broad ones like improving the education system. This being the very purpose of the conference, what need to be discussed are the specific ways in which this can be achieved. The conference itself should not be the place to discover ways; the ways should be in the agenda and it should be left of the conference to decide whether they are proper ways or not. Thus, the Council for Tibetan Education should send out, well in advance, a detailed questionnaire on various problems facing the Tibetan education system at present, asking all Tibetan teachers their ideas on solving them. From among the responses received, the Council can make a short list of what it considers to be important contribution that have possibilities of immediate implementation. The agenda based on these then can be circulated to be participants for discussion at the meeting. Raising of anything outside this agenda may be discouraged. After discussing the pros and cons of the specific ideas presented at the conference, it would become possible to formulate a set of resolutions which—however small in size—can immediately be put into practice. The next conference then can similarly be devoted to finding further ways of improvement, instead of once more dwelling at tedious lengths on things discussed, resolved and unimplemented ever since the first conference.
The third Tibetan teachers’ conference held in Dharamsala early this month was predictably hailed as a success by all participants. However, how many of 21 resolutions passed at the end of the three-day deliberations will or can actually be implemented remains to be seen. Judging from past experiences, we willdo well not to be overenthusiastic about the outcome of the whole existence.
At the very outset of the conference, no less a personage than its Chairaman, who happen to be the Tibetan Education Minister, disclosed sadly that his office contains stacks of files of resolutions, suggestions and plans from the past—largely untranslated into practical terms. There was not much persuasive evidence that the fate of the last resolutions will be all that different.
Clearly the way such conferences are organised is at fault. But this—as I had an earlier occasion to point out—is the way all Tibetan conferences, of governmental or lesser levels, have always been conducted. And Tibetans are notoriously shy of deviating from traditions. At this conference, for example, when someone suggested revising the text books currently being used in our schools, there were protests on the ground that the committee responsible for devising them comprised of the most learned and respected minds in our community.
If the next conference of the Tibetan teachers is to be more practical value, the agenda needs to have more specific items for discussion rather than broad ones like improving the education system. This being the very purpose of the conference, what need to be discussed are the specific ways in which this can be achieved. The conference itself should not be the place to discover ways; the ways should be in the agenda and it should be left of the conference to decide whether they are proper ways or not. Thus, the Council for Tibetan Education should send out, well in advance, a detailed questionnaire on various problems facing the Tibetan education system at present, asking all Tibetan teachers their ideas on solving them. From among the responses received, the Council can make a short list of what it considers to be important contribution that have possibilities of immediate implementation. The agenda based on these then can be circulated to be participants for discussion at the meeting. Raising of anything outside this agenda may be discouraged. After discussing the pros and cons of the specific ideas presented at the conference, it would become possible to formulate a set of resolutions which—however small in size—can immediately be put into practice. The next conference then can similarly be devoted to finding further ways of improvement, instead of once more dwelling at tedious lengths on things discussed, resolved and unimplemented ever since the first conference.
posted by editorla at
9:06 PM
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