Kyitsel-ling Tibetan Children’s Education Center

Kyitsel-ling Tibetan Children’s Education Center, Clement Town, N. India

The initial focus of our Foundation was on building this education center for needy Tibetan children in exile. The foundation stone was laid by His Holiness The Dalai Lama on November 21, 1997, who named it KYITSEL-LING, which means “the place of happiness’. The Kyitsel-ling children attend the local Tibetan settlement school (classes KG to XII) and come home to Kyitsel-ling.

The Need for a Children’s Hostel

While it is true that some Tibetan families have done well in exile, many continue to be very poor. Kyitsel-ling is a home for the poorest of the poor, children from broken homes and homes where the parents’ poverty and lack of literacy does not allow them to actively support the children’s academic growth. A large majority of Tibetan refugees in India make their living by selling sweaters and jackets. During the winters, they travel to different cities in India for business. Often their children’s education gets disrupted as they are compelled to follow their parents for lack of a place to stay. Kyitsel-ling ensures that at least some of them can have an uninterrupted academic year. Appreciating these needs, the establishment of Kyitsel-ling has been welcomed by all sections of the Tibetan community in exile. Initially planned as a center for fifty children, now it serves one hundred.

Programs at Kyitsel-ling

One of the major aims of Tibetan education in exile is to help transmit Tibetan cultural heritage to the children. Kyitsel-ling’s location within a major Tibetan settlement helps in transmitting the Tibetan culture to the children. Tashi Kyil Monastery is our next door neighbor and the center is surrounded by the sights and sounds of all things Tibetan.  Traditional Tibetan prayers, Music and Dance are all part of the children’s daily curriculum.

At the same time, we offer resources for a quality modern education. Resources at Kyitsel-ling include a small library and computer room. We hope that the education children receive at Kyitsel-ling will help Tibetan children to be firmly rooted in their own culture while be comfortable with the modern world.

The happiness of the children here is paramount. We added a children’s park and small recreational center. Games and sports are a big part of the children here. The basket ball court is the ‘center’ of many activities at Kyitsel-ling. Kyitsel-ling holds an annual local basket ball tournament.

The Kyitsel-ling children attend school at the local Tibetan settlement school and come home to Kyitsel-ling where tutors provide them with supplementary education in all school subjects.  Additional staff are employed to teach computers, traditional Tibetan Dance and Music and to organize supervized games and sports. Over the past twelve years since its inception, Kyitsel-ling has touched the lives of hundreds of children. In the years ahead, we hope that we’ll be contribute our fair share towards the education of Tibetan children in exile.